Not to be confused with the much rarer and much more expensive Mackinley’s special breed we have another contender in the whiskey space to the Shackleton name. This is sort of ‘inspired’ or in other words – stolen to sell. The look though is solid even if the product isn’t as solid.
25 Cases for a journey to the south pole sounds exactly like the kind of party we’d be up for even if that did mean freezing our collective asses off, and potentially as Endurance – meeting a terrible fate only to be found years later by Nicholas Cage. 25 cases of this though is maybe not exactly what we would order…
What they Say: “I believe it is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. – Ernest Shackleton.
In 1907 Sir Ernest Shackleton led one of history’s most famous explorations of the Antarctic, ordering 25 cases of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky for the expedition. Inspired by this original malt whisky, Shackleton offers robust notes of vanilla, honey, ginger & liquorice with a whisper of bonfire smoke.”
Taste: 4.5 – Almost non-existant, and not great. There’s a bit of heat there as well.
Aftertaste: 6.5 – A bit of salt, a bit of sweet, and overall the aftertaste is actually quite tasty.
Burn/Smooth: 3.0 – It does burn, which you always detest in a blend. In a single malt it makes sense, but here you had folks making choices and they still messed up.
Aroma: 3.0 – There a bit of lowland and highland esque smells here, but overall there is one singular glaring issue. While not offal it’s not something that screams or even speaks drink me
Honesty: 6.0 – They just couldn’t not say robust notes. THey had a full arctic exploration and they ruined it from greatness.
Mixability: 7.0
W/ Rocks: 7.0 – Oh, that is a delight. It removes so much bad and gives so much good.
Rusty Nail: 7.0 – Adjust the ratio, but get it right and it’s a pretty good rusty nail.
Value: 6.0 – For a blended scotch that makes a good nail, and is nice on ice. Yeah, that’s a pretty fair deal.
Google Shop Average: $35
Website: http://www.theshackletonwhisky.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 5.5
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Metric Score: 36/70 |+| Metric Average: 5.14 |+| Reviewer Average: 5.5
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Final Thoughts: Perhaps though since we’d be head to the arctic with plenty of ice the journey wouldn’t be so bad as it smoothes out many of the rough edges here. At $35 dollars this isn’t something we’d actively recommend against in lieu of the cheaper more well-known options, but then we’d just grab Chivas 18 again.
I have a bottle and like it on the rocks, but I’m not so hard on it straight as you are.