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The Dabbler’s drinks writer Ian Buxton – author of the bestselling 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die – uncovers some historic whisky…

A most unusual whisky has just come to light after spending the last 100 years in the Antarctic ice cap. 

Explorer Ernest Shackleton prepared very thoroughly for his 1908 expedition, including in his supplies cases of Mackinlays Rare Old Highland Malt whisky.  This is what would be known today as ‘blended malt’, that is to say a mixture of several single malts from various distilleries. 

For some reason the chaps didn’t drink the lot, leaving behind a couple of dozen bottles of the hard stuff when they abandoned their hut. Fast forward to 2007 when the Antarctic Heritage Trust were working at the site and decided to recover a few bottles and take it back to New Zealand. 

After it had been thawed out the temptation to open a bottle was just too great.  But, instead of phoning a few mates and ordering pizza, they offered the precious three bottles to Whyte & Mackay in Glasgow, who today own Mackinlays. 

The company’s billionaire owner, Indian entrepreneur, Vijay Mallya had his private jet fly to Canterbury, NZ to collect them and then handed them over to Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay’s Master Blender.  “Match that,” was the brief. 

His job has been to recreate the taste and the result is a limited edition of a replica of the original.  It’s more than an interesting curiosity – this is a delightful whisky, light but complex and suggests that our great-grandfathers had access to some fantastic drams. 

Supplies of the replica are available now, price £100 with every bottle representing a £5 donation to the conservation work of the Antarctic Heritage Trust.  

You don’t have to go to the South Pole to get some; most decent independent specialist stores have stocks.