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100 year-old whiskey dug up from Antarctic ice
Back in November we reported a plan by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust to retrieve crates of whiskey left by Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team after on unsuccessful attempt to make it to the South Pole in 1907-1909. The Nimrod Expedition made it to within 100 miles of the Pole before harsh weather forced the explorers to retreat. They ditched much of their gear along the way, including the whiskey.In a remarkable feat of icy archaeology, these crates, which have been sitting under a cabin built by Shackleton's team, have been pried free of the surrounding ice. Whiskey company Whyte and Mackay is elated. The company gave the Sir Shackleton the booze but hasn't made this particular blend in decades. They're hoping to sample the blend and replicate it.
The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust originally thought there were only two crates, so the other three came as a bonus. Three are labeled as whiskey and two as brandy. A few bottles might have broken, however, because the archaeologists smelled alcohol as they dug them up. They still need to scrape off the ice encasing the crates and gently remove ice that has formed inside before they know how many of the bottles are intact.
More ice cold news we've covered in the past - Brrrrr!
Filed under: History, Food and Drink, Antarctica, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John C. Billingsley, Jr. Feb 8th 2010 9:35AM
Leaving the Booz behind, un thankable!
roscoe Feb 8th 2010 9:37AM
jaques couesteau the ocean explorer found a ship full of old champegne over a hundred years old and it tasted great his crew said this would have been worth a fortune but they did not salvage the hundreds of crates of champegne what a shame that was
David Feb 8th 2010 10:02AM
If "global warming" is just happening now, why is the melting ice just getting to the point of where the ice was 100 years ago?
AJA Feb 8th 2010 10:39AM
The earth will naturally do everything to bring itself back into balance, when it fails to do so, then it's irreversible, and the planet will turn on itself. We may see sign of damage, but the earth is in constant renewal and weather patterns are cyclic. There is much to be understood by weather patterns that to the untrained eye, may just look like a slew of bad weather or CLIMATE GATE, but the truth is we don't know the hour or the day.
Rob Weiss Feb 8th 2010 11:07AM
Leaving the booze behind? That is alcohol abuse in it's purest sense!!
CB Feb 8th 2010 11:17AM
I wonder how much a bottle of that is worth ???
Allen Feb 8th 2010 11:31AM
Y'know, AJA, yer probably right! We DON'T know the hour or time of day...or at least I don't. While visiting Miami, as part of my Florida vacation itenerary, and, sorta laying-out to renew my suntan yesterday, my brand-new Mickey Mouse watch froze solid! But, in my precice 20/20 hindsight and comparing the events of yesterday, I've managed to separate the good news from the bad....I DIDN'T get much of a tan...BUT, I had pretty-much the entire beach ALL TO M'SELF!
thelastmanstanding Feb 8th 2010 11:37AM
pass it aroud and lets see how good it is
Mark A. Johnson Feb 8th 2010 11:41AM
AmazonRipper here, I can understand why they may have left the whiskey & brandy behind, but I'm sure they may have been cursing for having to do so. I'm also sure they didn't leave behind all of what they had brought and probably were planning to make a return trip, looking forward to savoring the ambrosia upon their return, lol. It seems to me these days not too many producers of like beverages are as concerned about the quality of their products as those in the past, nor do many of the younger generations of consumers. They fail to fully appreciate a very good whiskey or brandy, only being more concerned with getting tanked, getting laid, trying to impress their peers with how much alcohol they THINK they can drink with the end result being embarrassing themselves, puking their guts out, possibly also ending up either going to the hospital or to jail. What idiots. It would be great to be able to sample the ambrosia of the whiskey and the brandy that was discovered, uncovered, removed and very hopefully replicated.
Allen Feb 8th 2010 12:23PM
M.A.J., I am into TOTAL AGREEMENT with you. There are so few today that actually know what quality is. I really DO enjoy a GOOD brandy. Sure, I have a drink now and again...to sort of steady m'self. Sometimes I umm, well I get so steady I can't MOVE for days an' days!
mmp59 Feb 8th 2010 12:20PM
I have 2 unopened bottles of crown royal dated 1959, and I didn't have to go to the north pole to get them. Who wants to help me drink them?
Silent Josh Feb 8th 2010 1:39PM
The age of the bottle means nothing. It's only the aging BEFORE it's bottled that means anything. That 100 year old whiskey would taste the same today as it would have back when it was left there.
joker Feb 8th 2010 1:45PM
hate to disapoint anyone but the sad truth is , once whiskey is removed from the cask (barrel) the aging process pretty well stops. Only wine continues to age after it is bottled , but still interesting historical find .
papa Feb 10th 2010 2:23PM
HOW CAN THERE BE A WATER SHORTAGE?
1 NO WATER EVER LEAVES THE EARTH....PERMANENTLY!
2 THEY ARE SAYING THaTHE OCEANS ARE RISING 2 INCHES PER YEAR!
3 IF THE ICE CAPS ARE MELTING, SEND BY BARGE OR TRUCKS TO
AREAS SHORT OF WATER!
4. CREAT GREEN AREAS IN THE DESERTS AND THEREBY CREAT A RAIN
FOREST!
5 ALL TREE HUGGERS NEED TO GET A LIFE!
6. ANIMALS ARE ANIMALS.......LETS TAKE CARE OF THE BABIES OF THE
WORLD FIRST.
7 WHY CONTINUE TO EXPLORE SPACE WITH THE ECONOMY SO BAD...
CURE THE ECONOMY FIRST.