? Insight | Main | The Presets - Steamworks ?
January 09, 2012
Resurrection
Preserved in Antarctica since 1907, and resurrected as Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky, the Scotch that Ernest Shackleton drank is now available in stores* (via Quotulatiousness).
Phenol and related phenolic compounds show up in Scotch whiskies, giving them the unmistakable character that's referred to "peaty," because the flavor is introduced when the grain is exposed to peat smoke during the malting process. Chemical analysis revealed not only the quantity of phenolics in the Mackinlay -- surprisingly low, given that era's reputation for heavily peated malts -- but also the particular balance of compounds, which enabled the experts to pinpoint what region the peat used had likely come from. The answer? Orkney.
* Though not, it seems, at Ontario's thieving, useless state liquor monopoly.
Reviewed: "Overall: If I were weathering a snowstorm at the South Pole, I’d sure like to have several cases of this stashed under my cabin."
Posted by Ghost of a flea at January 9, 2012 06:28 AM