If you’ve had your ear even close to the whisky news grapevine you’ll know all about Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky, and the bottles discovered in the Antarctic in 2007.

A couple of years ago Whyte and Mackay (owners of the brand) recreated the contents of that bottle as a limited release replica. The end result was a pretty decent dram.

Recently I tasted an older version of Mackinlay’s, bottled in the 1960s.

The nose was very soft, if a bit faded by age. It smelled like cold coffee in a damp dunnage warehouse, slightly sulphurous, cinnamon and a distant whiff of christmas pudding.

The palate felt like it had flattened with age, a dusty chocolate orange, a tiny hint of creamy caramel, and sea spray on a concrete dock.

Overall, interesting but not really one for drinking, although a win on the curiosity stakes.