Nose: Honey, grain forward, citrus, slight brine, oil, and generic herbal and floral notes. Taste: Sweet honey paired with tart lemon peel, brine, slight pepper, oily, slight fruit (could be pear?), generic herbal notes. Final notes: I'm going to be frank. Cutty Sark is pretty much point A to point B on the nose and taste. There is no bloom, no flurry, no surprises. It is simply monotone, absolutely no peaks or lows, just monotone. It's like the yard-gar (yard cigar) of scotches. Pleasant enough to enjoy but nothing special and does not break the bank. However, there is still a lot going for me in this whisky. One, by far my favorite scotch for under $20. I can mix it without sacrificing a $50 bottle and I can also still sip it neat and still enjoy it without having to think too hard. It's also just very easy sipping with no burn. It doesn't have near the amount of shiny grain-forwardness that makes other cheap blended scotches rather unpleasant for me personally. It also has particular notes that I really do enjoy, they just happen to be rather thin in profile. Those notes include the combination of the sweet honey, lemon peel, and brine. That being said, a 3.25/5 rating seems appropriate and anything higher would be a far stretch but anything less seems rather unfair for what this budget blend brings to the table. If I had a friend who wanted to try a scotch but their other whisky experiences were generally Jack and Jameson and I didn't want to pour them a $50 that they may or may not like, I'd pour them Cutty Sark. Old Fashioned Recipe: Pour on a large cube of ice. Barspoon (or 2) of simple syrup, 2-3 dashes of mint bitters+dash of Angostura (I used homemade clove bitters), 1.5-2oz Cutty Sark. Stir. Orange peel twist to garnish (lemon peel works too).