Burns Night is always a special occasion for both whisky fans and whisky brands, but Cutty Sark more than most can lay particular claim to the occasion.
While the blend, renowned for its smooth taste and, at 40%, suitability as a toasting dram, is forever associated with the Tea Clipper sailing ship that first bore the name Cutty Sark, the actual phrase ‘cutty sark’ was pushed to prominence by Rabbie Burns.
In fact ‘cutty sark’ is a key plot point of his epic poem Tam O’Shanter, which relates the tale of an Ayrshire farmer who unwisely stays out ‘bousing’ on market day, while his wife waits at home ‘nursing her wrath to keep it warm’.
In Burns’ poem, when Tam finally makes his way home over those long dark country miles, he passes the ruined Alloway Kirk, and becomes witness to a hedonistic gathering of witches and demonic creatures.
Among that party of witches was an attractive new recruit, a ‘winsome wench’ dancing in a short and revealing undergarment – a cutty sark – which prompts the foolish man to cry out ‘weel done cutty sark’ by way of compliment to the woman, and thus give away that he is watching what he ought not to be watching.
Thence the poem turns to an action spectacular, whereby Tam is pursued by these hordes of Hell across the Ayrshire countryside, only escaping because his sober and reliable grey mare Meg gets him across the mystic barrier of running water, the River Doon via Alloway bridge, at the expense of her own tail, which is left in the grasping hand of that attractive young witch, who had athletically led the pack in Tam’s pursuit.
The Scottish builders of the globe-trotting Tea Clipper ship, renowned as the fastest and most adventurous of its day, named it after that speedy witch, and put a partially clothed figurehead of her on its prow for good measure – which can be seen to this day, as it remains a popular visitor attraction in London.
The ship was in turn an inspiration to Berry Bros & Rudd, which founded Cutty Sark whisky in March 1923. It has since endured as one of ‘the world’s most beloved blended whiskies’, with that iconic yellow label cropping up everywhere.
Head of marketing UK for Cutty Sark, Janette Deed, said: ‘We are enormously proud of our link to Robert Burns and a poem as globally celebrated as Tam O’Shanter.
“Most people are aware of our whisky’s connection to the Cutty Sark clipper and an exciting era of ocean shipping and adventure. The historic connection to Burns’ poetry is much less known, but something we want to share and celebrate as Burns Night approaches.”
So there’s some cultural context for you to bear in mind as you raise a glass in celebration of Rabbie Burns, a blethering farmer and an irresistibly Satanic negligee.
