The story behind the creation of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky is a tale that deserves to be told.
Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay’s master blender received a call from the Antarctic Heritage Trust (AHT) in 2007 informing him that they had uncovered what they thought to be bottles of whisky which had been frozen underneath the hut of 19th century Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, in Cape Royds, Antarctica.
After much research, Paterson and his team discovered that in 1907 Shackleton had packed a number of bottles of Mackinlay’s Whisky, (a popular choice amongst London’s elite) which was a blend primarily made from malts from the Glen Mhor distillery in Inverness Scotland.
Following a painstakingly long excavation process, the whisky was released from the ice, and Paterson flew over from Scotland to collect three bottles that the trust had given him permission to analyse.
Food magazine recently spoke with Paterson about the process of turning back the clock in his quest to recreate Shackleton’s whisky.
Can you describe the emotions you felt once you received the call from the Antarctic Heritage Trust informing you of what they had found?
It’s fair to say I was overwhelmed when I took the call as this truly was a magnificent find and turned into a once in a lifetime experience for me. It was a gift from the Gods, though it required a little patience as the initial call happened in 2007 but it was not until three years later, after careful excavation, that the whisky finally made its way to me for analysis.
Can you explain the process that you went through to recreate the whisky? Did it really take you four months to perfect the replica?
I picked up three bottles of whisky from the Antarctic Heritage Trust in New Zealand and brought them back with me via private jet to Scotland. Being this was such precious cargo, they were stored in high tech insulated containers (similar to a cool box you would keep your beers in) which I handcuffed to me for further safety – it took 103 years for the whisky to come out of the ice and there was no way anyone would be taking them from me!
Once back in Scotland I took the bottles to our whisky lab and my chief scientist James Pryde and I began the analysis on the whisky. We were not able to open the whisky so we had to carefully extract its content using a special syringe. As this really was liquid history, a small amount of the whisky was analysed by James and our colleagues at the Scottish Whisky Research Institute to look at the science behind it and find the chemical make-up. But for me it’s all about the sensory make-up of the whisky and I was both apprehensive and excited at the prospect of tasting a whisky that was made 100 years ago. Would it be harsh? Would it be well preserved? Would it be a peaty or a light style? So many questions ran through my head as I lifted up the glass to take my first sniff. And it was perfect. I could tell from that first nose that this was going to be a great whisky.
From that point I was able to identify the composite whiskies that went into making this very special blended malt and I was able to create a recreation bottling. However this process did take me over four months and around 50 different samples before I found one that was a perfect match to the original.
Testing revealed that the Mackinlay’s whisky was a blend primarily made from malts from the Glen Mhor distillery in Inverness which closed down in 1983. That must have posed quite the challenge when recreating the spirit?
Although the distillery is closed we were able to source a cask from 1980 from Glen Mhor which we added to the blend. The real challenge for me was to find the right whisky that would give the perfect balance of smokiness. For this I looked to one of our other distilleries, The Dalmore, which is based near Inverness. The Dalmore is not generally peated in style but I had a very special cask hidden away at the back of the warehouse that was heavily peated, which we used for the very first time in the Mackinlay’s whisky.
I understand that famed whisky expert Dave Broom sang the praises of the replica, describing it as ‘bang-on’ to the original. Has the whisky been well received throughout the industry?
Absolutely. We received so many positive comments about this whisky from both whisky fans and those who are looking to indulge in a little piece of history. It’s also been a great learning experience for the industry as a whole as none of us have ever tasted a whisky made 100 years ago.
Being a recreation of a century old whisky, would you say that the taste is quite far removed from what the modern palate has come to appreciate?
To be honest I was actually quite surprised by the taste and I certainly underestimated the talent of our whisky forefathers. The blend was much lighter in style that I had anticipated and it was a really smooth whisky which showed us that distilling methods were much more advanced that we had previously thought. The palate of the whisky has notes of pineapple, exotic fruits and just a whisper of peat smoke, so it’s also perfect for today’s tastes.
Would you describe the recreation of the Mackinlay’s whisky as the proudest moment of your career so far?
It is certainly up there! I am very privileged to have been part of this exceptional project and it definitely ranks highly amongst my other career achievements.
Fifty thousand units of the Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky replica have been created with a limited amount available in Australia.