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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: 216
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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#1. To: X-15 (#0)
Very cool - thanks.
Wifey know you are posting on whiskey threads???? I recall sometime ago they opened crackers that had been there for 50 years and they were fine. Now, they should send you a bottle for your expert analysis???
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. :)
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
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.
Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not.
bump
We started making our own wine and beer this year, and I have to say that I may have missed my calling. If I would have known it was as simple as this, I would have done this years ago. Am a big fan of all things produced in small quantities, because there's something about artisan brewing that makes for a better end result. I think that the big brewers do a fine job getting their stuff out to the masses, but it's the micro brewers, and micro vintners who quite frankly bring the art out in their product.
Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not.
I drank Summit when drinking Summit wasn't cool...LOL
To think the Summit Brewery isn't that far from me.
Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not.
Not far from University and the city line eh ? Glad to know there's still one of 'US' up there...
Been here going on 9 years. Love the twin cities. The only thing that sucks, is the sheer idiocy on display sometimes.
Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not.
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"!
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
Water, Sugar and wine yeast. Mixed, and allowed to ferment. Not sure on how much time, I think it's a fairly short process, like beer. After you've allowed it to sufficiently ferment, you freeze it. It drives the water to the surface, and the alcohol to the bottom. Remove the ice from the mixture, and then filter two or 3 times with a brita pitcher filter. This should remove any remaining yeast. You should end up with nearly straight alcohol. You can then add fruit puree', or flavoring of choice, then bottle. It'll last forever.
Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not.
So simple, geesh. Good info to know. Now I bet I know how Russian peasants always managed to have Vodka around prior to the 19th century, lol. Thanks for the instructions, sounds like a fun experiment!
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
Making Vodka isn't as hard as you think. Potatoes have a lot of sugar in them, as do beets. When juiced, and allowed to ferment, they make alcohol, ala Vodka. When it hits February here, it should be cold enough to do this outdoors.
Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not.
#2. To: Lod (#1)
(Edited)
Very cool - thanks.
#3. To: X-15 (#0)
"It's better to imagine it than to taste it," he said. "That way it keeps its mystery."
#4. To: SonOfLiberty (#3)
#5. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#4)
most excellent
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams 
#6. To: Rotara (#5)
#7. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#6)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#8. To: Rotara (#7)
#9. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#8)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#10. To: Rotara (#9)
#11. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#4)
#12. To: SonOfLiberty (#11)
#13. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#12)
#14. To: SonOfLiberty (#13)
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