Posted on 07/24/2010 5:20:35 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
A crate of Scotch whisky that has been frozen in Antarctic ice for more than a century is being slowly thawed by New Zealand museum officials.
The crate of whisky was recovered earlier this year - along with four other crates containing whisky and brandy - beneath the floor of a hut built by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton during his 1908 Antarctic expedition.
Four of the crates were left in the ice, but one labelled Mackinlay's whisky was brought to the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island, where officials said it was being thawed in a controlled environment.
Nigel Watson, executive director of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, said the whisky might still be liquid.
"When the guys were lifting it, they reported the sound of sloshing and there was a smell of whisky in the freezer, so it is all boding pretty well," he said.
An Antarctic Heritage Trust team that was restoring the explorer's hut found the crates in 2006 but couldn't immediately dislodge them because they were too deeply embedded in the ice.
Drinks group Whyte & Mackay, the Scottish distillery that now owns the Mackinlay's brand, launched the bid to recover the whisky for samples to test and potentially use to relaunch the defunct Scotch.
Mr Watson said the whisky may still be drinkable but would probably not be tasted.
"This was a blend so they are hopeful if there is enough alcohol left and it is in good condition they may be able to analyse and hopefully replicate the liquid so in fact everyone could partake in this," he said.
"It has been put on ice for 100 years so I don't think it is too unromantic a suggestion. The reality is that it is very limited
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Scotch ping!
I’ll drink to that!
Ded Kennedy just sat up in his grave!
Neat - hold the ice.
Oh, Man! And they didn’t invite me.
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Is "northern" Antarctic coast redundant in the same sentence with South Pole as the reference?
yitbos
Yeah, sure, and you can leave your daughter here with me, too.
/johnny
2000-year-old vinegar, probably mixed with saltwater. And they pounded it just to say they did.
Alcohol does not freeze.
Fine whiskey is a special thing. But God only made one Ernest Shackleton.
Yup, I put all my whiskey in the freezer to pre chill it before pouring it over the rocks. It never freezes.
MMMMMMMMM 100 year old whiskey....My Ice Cubes are getting dry.....would go nice with a Pre-Castro Cuban cigar....
Of course it does. Everything freezes. For pure ethanol, its freezing point would be -114 degrees C. Dress warmly and wear your mittens.
Yes, it does. But at -173F, which is a tad too cold for neat. Dry ice won’t solidify it, but liquid nitrogen will. And you have to admit that serving drinks with grain alcohol ice cubes would impress just about anyone.
No matter how far south you go one side of the land mass is going to be the North side. The arctic, after all, has a southern coast.
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