Posted on 02/06/2010 9:26:13 AM PST by DogByte6RER
Scotch whisky meant to warm Antarctic explorers retrieved after century locked in ice
Associated Press
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - This Scotch has been on the rocks for a century.
Five crates of Scotch whisky and two of brandy have been recovered by a team restoring an Antarctic hut used more than 100 years ago by famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Ice cracked some of the bottles that had been left there in 1909, but the restorers said Friday they are confident the five crates contain intact bottles "given liquid can be heard when the crates are moved."
New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team leader Al Fastier said the team thought there were two crates and were amazed to find five.
Current distillery owner, drinks group Whyte & Mackay, launched the bid to recover the Scotch whisky for samples to test and decide whether to relaunch the defunct spirit made by distiller McKinlay and Co.
Fastier said restoration workers found the crates under the hut's floorboards in 2006, but they were too deeply embedded in ice to be dislodged.
The New Zealanders agreed to drill the ice to try to retrieve some bottles, although the rest must stay under conservation guidelines agreed to by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations.
"The unexpected find of the brandy crates, one labeled Chas. Mackinlay & Co and the other labeled The Hunter Valley Distillery Limited Allandale (Australia) are a real bonus," said Fastier.
Ice has cracked some of the crates and formed inside them. Fastier said in a statement that would make extracting the contents delicate, but the trust would decide how to do so in coming weeks.
Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, whose company supplied the Mackinlay's whisky for Shackleton, described the find as "a gift from the heavens for whisky lovers."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Indeed. Maybe the most valuable whiskey in the world!
Great news!
A “not quite bourbon ping”. It is whiskey..
Would any beverage that old be consumable, vodka maybe?
ping
Absolutely...and it will taste exactly the same as it did 100 years ago. Glass is non-reactive, so the whiskey has not “aged” or “matured” in any way....what would have been fantastic is had it been in a oak cask..not that would be awesome..
Five crates of Scotch whisky and two of brandy have been recovered by a team restoring an Antarctic hut used more than 100 years ago by famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. (New Zealand Antarctic Heritage)
With that much ethanol in it, and entombed in ice the entire time, it should taste just like it did the day it was bottled.
Shackleton
the name exudes balls....and willpower
I look forward to sampling Whyte and Mackay’s attempt at reproducing the taste of Mackinley’s lost recipe.
They apparently found cases of brandy, as well.
I suppose this is true with liquor but I would swear shine changes in a jar after some years...course it could be the peach breaking down
Wine of course can get stellar or go bad in glass...is it the cork contact?
this is curious
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Thanks DogByte6RER! Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
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Another news report at:
aged in bourbon casks is it not...often?
The brandy might actually be more interesting at this aged.
good lord
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