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Title: Drilling for Scotch whiskey on frozen continent
Source: AP
URL Source: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=456&sid=1813769
Published: Nov 16, 2009
Author: AP
Post Date: 2009-11-16 12:50:51 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 219
Comments: 14

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A beverage company has asked a team to drill through Antarctica's ice for a lost cache of some vintage Scotch whiskey that has been on the rocks since a century ago.

The drillers will be trying to reach two crates of McKinlay and Co. whiskey that were shipped to the Antarctic by British polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton as part of his abandoned 1909 expedition.

Whyte & Mackay, the drinks group that now owns McKinlay and Co., has asked for a sample of the 100-year-old scotch for a series of tests that could decide whether to relaunch the now-defunct Scotch.

Workers from New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust will use special drills to reach the crates, frozen in Antarctic ice under the Nimrod Expedition hut near Cape Royds.

Al Fastier, who will lead the expedition in January, said restoration workers found the crates of whiskey under the hut's floorboards in 2006. At the time, the crates and bottles were too deeply embedded in ice to be dislodged.

The New Zealanders have agreed to try to retrieve some bottles, although the rest must stay under conservation guidelines agreed by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations.

Fastier said he did not want to sample the contents.

"It's better to imagine it than to taste it," he said. "That way it keeps its mystery."

Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay's master blender, said the Shackleton expedition's whiskey could still be drinkable and taste exactly as it did 100 years ago.

If he can get a sample, he intends to replicate the old Scotch and put McKinlay whiskey back on sale.

"I really hope we can get some back here," he was quoted as telling London's Telegraph newspaper. "It's been laying there lonely and neglected. It should come back to Scotland where it was born.

"Even if most of the bottles have to remain in Antarctica for historic reasons, it would be good if we could get a couple," Paterson said.

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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 4.

#3. To: X-15 (#0)

"It's better to imagine it than to taste it," he said. "That way it keeps its mystery."

This is likely true. Whiskey stops "aging" after you bottle it, if what I've been told is correct. It ages in the barrels (oxygen exchange, mellowing, etc), but the glass bottle grinds that to a halt quick. So when you have, say, 20+ year old (I thik 22 or 24, can't recall) Scotch Whiskey from the Isle of Skye, Scotland (yes, yes I do) in 1990, you still have 20+ year old Scotch Whiskey when you open that bottle in 2009.

Wine continues to age in the bottle because the cork allows a small amount of oxygen in/out, on purpose. Whiskey bottles are/were generally much better sealed.

Again, as I've been told.

Nevertheless, if they happen to want to give away a bottle to me after this expedition, I would feel obliged to accept it. For scientific purposes, mind you. :)

SonOfLiberty  posted on  2009-11-16   14:10:17 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: SonOfLiberty (#3)

Funny you should bring this up. We are bottling some port in about another 6 weeks. After bottling, it will age for about 3 years before we even think about consumption.

We're making Chocolate Raspberry Port, something different. I have to say that in all honesty there is something completely cathartic about making and bottling your own spirits.

Was recently shown by a friend of mine how to make distilled alcohol with ice, instead of an actual distillery. This is going to be a great year for bottling in our place.

TommyTheMadArtist  posted on  2009-11-16   18:58:16 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 4.

#5. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#4)

most excellent

bump

Rotara  posted on  2009-11-16 19:00:32 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#4)

A port maker, oh my! Very ambitious!

I make beer, mead and I've tried my hand at wine as well. You're right, there's a great feeling of "I made this" that goes with the drinks, eh?

I'd love to hear more about "ice distilling"!

SonOfLiberty  posted on  2009-11-17 10:08:03 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


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