You might wonder what the Cutty Sark and Mizkan Euro, vinegar producers, have in common. On the face of it not a lot, but when the Mayday went out for help to rebuild the clipper after a disastrous fire Mizkan Euro rallied to the call to offer assistance. Mizkan Euro is a subsidiary of the Mizkan Group, established in 1804 in Japan and is the producer of a wide range of traditional and Japanese vinegars.
Three tonnes of Mizkan Euro’s finest wooden vinegar vessels were delivered to the Cutty Sark project to use in its rebuilding. The vessels were made with Douglas-fir from Vancouver Island, Canada, which was grown and matured for several decades. Because the wood was grown and aged naturally over a long period before cutting it is much denser and harder wearing than wood from modern managed forests. Forty years of storing Mizkan vinegar has also seasoned the timber.
The Cutty Sark Restoration Trust has found it very difficult to source sufficient quantities of high grade reclaimed timber, so was delighted to receive Mizkan Euro’s donation of such good quality, aged material. A previous donation of mahogany from Mizkan Euro has been used in the rebuilding of the Cutty Sark’s lifeboats. Master shipwrights used the wood for the rudder and seats.
“We are delighted to be able to donate to this iconic project,” said Managing Director of Mizkan Euro at that time.
“We had been producing vinegar for more than 50 years when the Cutty Sark first took to the seas in 1869.
While the Mizkan Group today is an international company, it is still family run company and, as such, we are uniquely positioned to appreciate the importance of history and heritage. We are proud to be associated with the Cutty Sark rebuild.”
The wood was carefully transported from Mizkan’s vinegar plant at Burnstwood, Staffordshire by Wincanton transport services.