1943 Prisoner of War Week

 

This article was published in the Scotsman newspaper on 30th April 1943 and shows the continuing support from Mackinlay & BIrnie to those affected by the war effort.

This fits in well with what we already know about John Birnie, who was a very staunch supporter of the monarchy and war effort - much to Neil M. Gunn's dismay during his residency at Glen Mhor.

The Inverness Highland Archive has an impressive photograph of dignitaries attending the laying of the foundation stone of a new Inverness hospital. A prominent John Birnie is amongst their ranks, underlining his commitment to public health and war veterans. Sadly, due to NHS rules we cannot bring you this image, but it’s well worth a look if you’re in the archive.

We've previously reported on the scarcity and value of whisky during the war, with the market constrained and demand high, prices and black market activity were on the up. Funnily enough, a logbook entry deep dive also from 1943, highlights this problem in greater detail and the market environment.

For Mackinlay & Birnie to auction a cask shows a great commitment to the Prisoners of War week. And while we don't know if this was a Glen Mhor or Glen Albyn cask, or even its age, the value of £400 in today's world would be £23,334, which is reflective of the market conditions. Given what we know and their favouritism of Glen Mhor, it is likely to be from this distillery. Unless it was one of the unique casks as we've revealed in a prior logbook record from February 1943, using up Glen Albyn feints at Glen Mhor, in effect creating a unique Inverness hybrid distillate.