Hi everyone,
There have been several Shackleton whiskies over the last years since they found a box of whisky hidden in Shackleton’s hut in Antarctica.
The first, in the wooden box, you barely see. I managed to get my paws on the other two; a supermarket, cheap release and the second release that is about £120 or something.
These were Christmas presents from my Dad after he went on an Antarctic cruise.
Shackleton's Mackinlay's 40%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium
Nose: Buttery, malty, lemon, a little heather, an astringent note, lavender soap and cheap cola sweets, marshmallow.
Taste: Very soft, butter and lemon clashing a bit, heather, some basic and yet harsh spice.
Finish: Medium length. Still harsh with some refill oak.
Not great, quite unbalanced.
54/100
Mackinlay’s ‘The Journey’ 47.3%
Colour: E150a
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Buttery and oily to start, slightly floral, old style machine oil and malt, garage rags and some diesel fumes, a little browning red apple, some older (dry) Amontillado Sherry. Quite old style malt indeed. More Sherry and toffee apples over time.
Taste: Soft start with dry style Fino/Amontillado Sherry, then tingling on the tongue with spices and very old oak, quite robust and austere, then more open with buttery malt, a floral layer, lemon, machine oil, green and red apple before more overt smoke. Maybe a little rubber into the finish.
Finish: Medium length. Some soft pepper, oily smoke, old peat and browning green apple.
A replica of 1897 Glen Mhor. This blended malt includes Peated Dalmore and a cask of actual Glen Mhor from 1980. I wonder if there’s some older Peated Jura too, with some Tamnavulin. I’m surprised by how good this is, really ticks the box of what you’d think a 19th century whisky might taste like! Very interesting and quite delicious, while the attention to detail on the packaging has also been great.
Over time, the whisky has not been oxidising great in the bottle. It comes across as slightly harsh at times and theirs is little of the machine oil and rags that I liked about the nose, so…
77/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Reviews #735-#736
Whisky Network reviews #873-#874
Network Average: 75.1
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment