Message in a Bottle: Century-old whisky reveals secrets

Dr Vijay Mallya transported the precious Mackinlay's bottles from New Zealand to Scotland, where master blender Richard Paterson successfully replicated the 100-year-old whisky

JUST over five years ago, archaeologists from The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust excavated five crates beneath the hut abandoned by English explorer Ernest Shackleton during his historic 1907-1909 quest to reach the South Pole. Three of the crates contained brandy whilst the other two were labelled as containing whisky – including one with the logo of Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky. This case was removed from the ice and was painstakingly thawed out under laboratory conditions to preserve the bottles and spirit in the best possible way. The Mackinlay's brand is now owned by Whyte & Mackay, which had discontinued the brand but whose interest was piqued by the discovery of the century-old whisky.

Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, described the discovery as "a gift from the heavens for whisky lovers."

"If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analysed, the original blend may be able to be replicated. Given the original recipe no longer exists this may open a door into history," he said when the discovery was announced.

Three bottles of the original Shackleton whisky were flown by private plane from New Zealand by Whyte & Mackay owner Dr Vijay Mallya to Glasgow, where Mr Paterson spent a painstaking eight weeks marrying and blending a range of malts to get an exact replica of the 100-year-old Mackinlay's liquid.

Mr Paterson said that matching the whisky really tested his blending skills, but it was a true labour of love. "It was a real privilege getting to handle, nose and taste such a rare and beautiful bottle of whisky. The quality, purity and taste of this 100-year-old spirit were amazing. The biggest surprise was the light flavour and the clear, almost vibrant colour of the liquid. I hope I have done our forefathers and Ernest Shackleton proud with the replica," he said.

 The replica Mackinlay contains whisky from a range of highland malts, including Glen Mhor, which was the original Mackinlay's distillery before it closed in 1983. The 47.3% ABV whisky has a light honey and straw gold colour with shimmering highlights.

 'Blown away'

According to one independent expert, he has got the copy exactly right. Renowned whisky writer Dave Broom is the only other person in the world to taste both the original whisky and Whyte & Mackay's new liquid.

"The Shackleton whisky is not what I expected at all, and not what anyone would have expected. It's so light, so fresh, so delicate and still in one piece – it's a gorgeous whisky," said Mr Broom of the original.

"It proves that even way back then so much care, attention and thought went into whisky-making."

Mr Broom described the replication as "absolutely bang on". The nose is soft, elegant and refined with delicate aromas of crushed apple, pear and fresh pineapple. It has a whisper of marmalade, cinnamon and a tease of smoke, ginger and muscovado sugar.

The generous strength of the 47.3% whisky, believed to be high to stop the alcohol freezing, gives plenty of impact, but in a mild and warming way. It has whispers of gentle bonfire smoke slowly giving way to spicy rich toffee, treacle and pecan nuts.

"Richard has done a great job as it's a very tricky whisky to replicate, because you have this delicacy, subtlety and the smoke just coming through," he said. "The sweetness, fragrance and spice, and the subtle smoke, are all there in tadidas superstar damen glitzer silber