Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt was originally distilled at Glen Mhor distillery in Inverness, Scotland. It was a whisky much enjoyed throughout the late 19th century, and was personally selected by Ernest Shackleton to help sustain his British Antarctic Expedition of 1907.

The original bottles were labelled the 'Endurance expedition', but the expedition actually sailed south onboard the Nimrod. Having set up a base camp at Cape Royds, Shackleton and his men ultimately failed to reach the South Pole, but they did return safely, and sailed for home in March 1909, leaving three crates of the malt buried in the ice.