ctbeck11
Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition
Blended — Scotland
Reviewed
December 29, 2021 (edited January 8, 2022)
Nose - mushroom, bell pepper, apple, light peat, cereal grain, sulphur, lemon oil, honey, mild to moderate ethanol burn.
Taste - honey, fungal notes, sulphur, apple, pear, cereal grain, oily peat, lemon pith, white pepper, caramel, candy corn, vanilla, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing short with cereal grain, honey, and fungal flavors.
I’ve never tried a Cutty Sark product before, but I understand that this release contains a different blend of grains and malts, along with being bottled at a higher 50% ABV. The nose is pretty rough. The standout aromas are grain, oil, and mushroom. The sulphur dominates the other more subtle notes like honey, apple, and pear. The palate is particularly oily, with more fungal sulphur alongside grain, orchard fruit, and stale candy corn flavors.
This is not good, but it’s not horrific either. I thought I was smelling a tequila like Corralejo at first. There are some pleasant blended malt qualities, but those oily, mushroomy, sulphuric notes overwhelm the senses. Safe to say, I won’t be picking up one of these anytime soon. Many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for providing the generous sample!
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@Benji-Robert That seems to be the case, and probably the reason opinions are so split on this one here. The price is still attractive, but seems they’ve gone and matched the quality to it.
when this first came out like.... 7 or 8 years ago? it was 🔥🔥🔥but then it was 'discontinued' only to be brought back as an entirely inferior product... sark was one of my favorite "need to get it all done, liq and mix, for under $20" bottles as a young young kid so I may perhaps be biased... pound this jam with sprite or dr pepper
@Ctrexman For around $30, you can’t really complain too much. My experience seems to be worse than most here though, so it’s probably still worth trying if you can find it.
Ive looked for this ever since BDanner praised it but could never find it. You are making me think thats not a bad thing now
@ctbeck11 @Scott_E sadly…this was probably the only bottle in my life that I fully finished on my own. And then promptly bought another one for $25. Yes. I’m a cheap date.
@PBMichiganWolverine @ctbeck11 I agree with Pranay. I liked it too. Did they change the blend, abv or anything like that recently?
@PBMichiganWolverine Looking at some of the other more recent reviews, it appears to be generally liked by the community. If I cared enough, I might think of picking up a bottle just to see whether this one was off-profile. But I don’t think I care enough :)
@skillerified Haha sounds like an extra manly version of ordering a shot and a beer at a bar. Cutty and hops.
@ctbeck11 @ContemplativeFox i had this years ago when it first came out. Admittedly, I loved it. More so because it wasn’t what I expected of Cutty Sark. My bar was set incredibly low for them
I've picked up two bottles of this. It's unusual, no doubt. I get a nice (and strong) black pepper note that cuts through that earthy mushroom. I accidentally discovered that this makes a glorious chaser to an IPA.
@cascode First I’ve tried it, so can’t say for sure. The fungal notes on this one were pretty out of control though. Unless it’s an outlier bottle, I’m assuming there’s been some drop in quality.
@ContemplativeFox At least it’s priced accordingly.
Interesting. I've had several bottles of this and was quite impressed, but the last time I bought it was a couple of years ago and it sounds like it may have changed.
The sulphur is too much for me too. It was also my first Cutty Sark and will probably be my last.