Shackleton’s Whisky Anniversary

The Trust would like to extend our sincere thanks to Whyte & Mackay on the 10-year anniversary of their ongoing support for the Trust through whisky sales.

In 1907, Sir Ernest Shackleton took 25 cases of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky with him on the British Antarctic Nimrod Expedition. In January 2010, Trust conservators found three crates encased in ice under Shackleton’s Antarctic base. One crate was flown to New Zealand to be carefully thawed by the Trust in a purpose-built environment at Canterbury Museum.

After delicate conservation, three bottles, under permit from the New Zealand Government, were transported to Scotland for scientific analysis by Whyte & Mackay (owner of the Mackinlay brand) and The Scotch Whisky Research Institute. Painstaking sensory and chemical analysis was carried out to establish the flavour and composition of a product manufactured a century earlier.

In 2012 Whyte & Mackay launched a special edition replica whisky for sale with a contribution from each bottle purchased going to the Trust. Two more editions of whisky have followed since then.