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Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
41,824
19,148
Riding the baggage carousel.
Antarctic Whiskey: 100-Year-Old Cases Of Alcohol Recovered From The Ice

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."

"If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analyzed, the original blend may be able to be replicated. Given the original recipe no longer exists, this may open a door into history," he said in a statement.

Shackleton's expedition ran short of supplies on its long ski trek to the South Pole from the northern Antarctic coast in 1907-1909 and turned back about 100 miles (160 kilometers) short of its goal.

The expedition sailed away in 1909 as winter ice formed, leaving behind supplies, including the whisky and brandy.
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If you don't know the story of Ernest Shackleton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Shackletonhead.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Shackletonhead.jpg/180px-Shackletonhead.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/4/4b/Shackletonhead.jpg/180px-Shackletonhead.jpg you should look it up. Until a man crash lands on the moon, cobbles his sh*t back together, and makes it back to earth alive, there will never be a more amazing survival story.
 
valve bouncer

valve bouncer

Master Dildoist
Feb 11, 2002
7,843
114
Japan
If the Kiwis found it the chances of any of that Scotch making it back to civilisation is practically nil.
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.
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The conservation guideline being "we'll conserve it in our livers".
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,153
10,705
AK
Sometimes I think the British are just asking for it with how they name ships. invincible, terrible, defiant, unsinkable, endurance, whatcouldpossiblygowrong, etc.
 
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Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,153
10,705
AK
It's a good watch to see any of the documentaries that compare the Shackelton expedition to the Scott one. So much incompetence on the Scott expedition it was just mind-blowing.
 
maxyedor

maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,141
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
Heidi said:
But no recipe exists and they might be able to replicate it.
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They already have an approximation of Shackletons scotch, it’s called, unsurprisingly, Shackleton. I guess you can compare the two now, but honestly Shackleton is only “okay”


Gary said:
Fair enough. Johnny Walker is considered a mediocre affordable tipple at best in its natural habitat.
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It's considered mediocre by Scotch drinkers over here too, it's the people who don't actually like whisky that love it because Blue Label is expensive, and therefore Black Label must be good, same with Jack Daniels.

I also thought this was a HBD threat for you, so Happy Birthday, I'm sure you'll have a birthday sooner or later.
 
MikeD

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,735
1,819
chez moi
Laphroaig is what's worth it for my meager money.

I like Nikka, too, for a Japanese twist.
 
Gary

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
maxyedor said:
They already have an approximation of Shackletons scotch, it’s called, unsurprisingly, Shackleton. I guess you can compare the two now, but honestly Shackleton is only “okay”




It's considered mediocre by Scotch drinkers over here too, it's the people who don't actually like whisky that love it because Blue Label is expensive, and therefore Black Label must be good, same with Jack Daniels.

I also thought this was a HBD threat for you, so Happy Birthday, I'm sure you'll have a birthday sooner or later.
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I can't stand the taste of any Whisky.
My birthday is in just under 2 months time . So you still have plenty time to send me my pressie
 
Gary

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
Drinking whisky if you don't actually like it is at best retarded at worst pretentious.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
20,153
10,705
AK
Gary said:
Fair enough. Johnny Walker is considered a mediocre affordable tipple at best in its natural habitat.
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Tried some, a bottle of black and a little gift kit that had all sorts of different grades. I think I liked the blue, which is hundreds of dollars per normal sized bottle, but everything else was poop.
 
Gary

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,515
6,425
UK
Our Capital City's economy pretty much depends on tourists/visitors paying over the odds for the shite we sell them.
You guys are the best.
 
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