Cutty Sark Prohibition

Cutty Sark, built in 1869, was the fastest tea clipper, transporting tea from China to London. Its name comes from the poet Robert Burns' text and refers to a Scottish, mezzanine-like nightdress. In 1923, during a lunch meeting, the owners of the renowned wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd Ltd. conversed with a Scottish artist, discussing whisky, naturally. This led to the idea of creating a new, lighter Scottish blended whisky that could also be easily mixed. They named the whisky Cutty Sark after the yellow label adorned with an image of a clipper ship. During the era of Prohibition in the United States, smuggling was a significant business, and fast vessels were well-suited for it. In the midst of these tumultuous times, Cutty Sark whisky gained recognition. After the repeal of Prohibition, it sold over 7,000 cases in 1934 and nearly 81,000 cases in 1936. In advertisements from 1956, the clipper sailed swiftly in color images, accelerating the whisky's success. By 1961, Cutty Sark became the best-selling Scotch whisky in the USA, with sales surpassing a million cases annually.