They found it!

Back in November last year I wrote about an expedition to Antarctica that planned to search for whisky left behind by Sir Ernest Shackleton. It seems they found it! The BBC reports:

Five crates of Scotch whisky and brandy belonging to the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton have been recovered after more than 100 years in the ice.

They were buried beneath Shackleton’s Antarctic hut, built in 1908 for a failed expedition to the South Pole.

Some of the crates have cracked and ice has formed inside, which means experts will face a delicate task in trying to extract the contents.

The ice-bound crates were first discovered three years ago.

The master blender at whisky company Whyte and Mackay said the find was a “gift from the heavens” for whisky lovers.

Richard Paterson, whose firm supplied the Mackinlay’s whisky for Shackleton, said: “If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analysed, the original blend may be able to be replicated.

“Given the original recipe no longer exists this may open a door into history.”

The alcohol was removed from the ice by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, which had initially believed there to be just two crates.

Al Fastier from the trust said: “To our amazement we found five crates, three labelled as containing whisky and two labelled as containing brandy.

“The unexpected find of the brandy crates, one labelled Chas Mackinlay & Co and the other labelled The Hunter Valley Distillery Limited, Allandale, are a real bonus.”

Mr Fastier said the trust was confident the crates contained intact alcohol, given that liquid could be heard when the crates were moved.

The smell of whisky in the surrounding ice also indicated full bottles of spirits were inside, albeit that one or more might have broken.

There’s more at the link.

Hmm . . . century-old Scotch and brandy, well preserved in ice? Why do I suspect that the ‘scientists’ and ‘technicians’ thawing out those crates are going to have an awful lot of eager amateur helpers? And why do I suspect that it’ll all have to be tasted “to make sure it’s still good”?

Peter