An exact replica of the whisky left in Antarctica by Sir Ernest Shackleton during his South Pole expedition between 1907 and 1909. The whisky was recreated down to the very last detail by Whyte and Mackay master blender, Richard Paterson. This replica bottle of Mackinlay’s blend contains whiskies from Speyside, the Islands and the Highlands. The recipe even includes some very rare 1983 Glen Mhor. This is the second edition of the Replica produced in 2013.

A family firm for over 140 years, Charles Mackinlay & Co was established in 1815 as a wine merchant in Leith, quickly moving into the whisky business, registering their The Original Mackinlay blend in 1847. The company had strong links to the Inverness whisky industry, with a stake in Glen Mhor and Glen Albyn distillery, and was one of the earliest to advocate its distillery's single malts. It passed out o family control in 1961, eventually being bought by Invergordon Distillers in 1985, becoming part of Whyte & Mackay eight years later.

By the early 1980s the brand was the 11th best-selling Scotch in the UK, led by Mackinlay’s Legacy, which was bottled at 12, 17 and 21 years of age, and The Original Mackinlay. At the time, The Original contained ‘no less that 34% malt’, the majority of which was from Speyside. Although the name has changed to Mackinlay’s Original, the same recipe is still adhered to today by Whyte & Mackay’s master blender Richard Paterson. The current version is a vatting of malt and grain whiskies aged for at least five years and bottled at 40% abv.

The brand is most famous for being the whisky of choice of Sir Ernest Shackleton to accompany his 1907 expedition to the South Pole. The 25 cases of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt were made to order at a specific 47.3% abv strong enough to withstand freezing temperatures.

In 2007 several bottles of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt were found at Shackleton’s Antarctic base camp, and analysis found the whisky had been matured in American oak Sherry casks, and produced using Orkney peat in the malting process.

The liquid was recreated for two limited edition releases –The Discovery and The Journey – both of which contained malts from Glen Mhor and Dalmore among others.