Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch was developed to very closely replicate the exact whisky taken by Ernest Shackleton on his Nimrod expedition in 1907 to the Antarctic.
Shackleton’s Scotch
The whisky was to serve two purposes, firstly it was believed at the time that whisky and rum had warming properties that could save a man from freezing to death, and secondly there was the matter of morale – 25 cases of whisky buys you a lot of goodwill from your crew.
The whisky chosen by Shackleton for the expedition was Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky, we know that for two reasons – it was recorded in the logs, and because they discovered three unconsumed cases of it under the team’s wooden shack at base camp at Cape Royds in Antarctica.
It’s probably fairly safe to assume that the other 22 cases were enjoyed on the journey to the great southern continent by Shackleton and his men, meaning they would have had very little for the trip home. But this is understandable, whisky is delicious and the men were no doubt in need of plenty to steady their nerves and sea legs.
In 2007 exactly 100 years after the expedition, the three remaining cases were found in the snow and ice under the floorboards of the shack, it created headlines around the world and a team of whisky-makers led by Master Blender Richard Paterson decided to bring the recipe back by reverse engineering it after painstaking analysis.
Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch
Each bottle of Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch has been carefully blended to match the Shackleton batch of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky.
It’s characterized by an easy drinking nature either neat or with ice (a little ice would be appropriate after all), it has notes of vanilla, honey, butterscotch, and orchard fruits with a pleasantly light peat after taste.
Depending on your region the pricing can vary, but you can generally expect to pay a little under $38 USD per bottle in the United States.
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