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Whisky on (Antarctic) ice: Ernest Shackleton...left a stash at the bottom of the world.
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| October 26, 2009
| Emily Stone
Posted on 10/26/2009 6:07:49 PM PDT by xzins
click here to read article
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To: C210N
"They are in luck. I just happen to be a researcher that studies the condition of 100 year old frozen whiskey. Just send me a case, with a hefty government grant, and I should be able to give a full report in no time."
Do you research techniques involve analyzing your subject in a fashion similar to this...
21
posted on
10/26/2009 6:33:55 PM PDT
by
CapnJack
To: xzins
There is no telling what those kinds of extreme temperatures would do to the whiskey, assuming that the bottles remained intact and sealed.
I’d volunteer to taste it....
22
posted on
10/26/2009 6:35:10 PM PDT
by
Bean Counter
(Stout Hearts....)
To: stylecouncilor
23
posted on
10/26/2009 6:44:38 PM PDT
by
xzins
(Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support our troops pray for their victory!)
To: stylecouncilor
going in with special toolsThat cracked me up. Thanks for taking the time.
24
posted on
10/26/2009 6:47:28 PM PDT
by
Semper911
(When you want to rob Peter to pay Paul, you'll always have the support of Paul.)
To: xzins
That’s some serious Scotch on the rocks.
25
posted on
10/26/2009 6:52:58 PM PDT
by
GnL
To: henkster
The story of the Endurance and Shackleton's extraordinary leadership is inspiring. However, in some ways, I was even more awed by the story of “Shackleton's Forgotten Men”-—the brave group of men, having also lost their ship, who laid out supplies and food stores from the other side of the Antarctica for Shackleton. They carried out their duty, not knowing the fate of Shackelton and not knowing if they would be rescued. Three were lost. After returning from his fateful mission, Shackleton then set out to rescue the “forgotten men.” You can imagine the moment when they saw Shackleton's boat arrive-—Earnest himself was the first man ashore to greet his men. Shackleton summed up their journey by saying there was “no more remarkable story of human endeavour...than that long march” I am sure you can find the book on Amazon. A worthwhile read!
To: SnuffaBolshevik
Not sure. Pure ethanol freezes at like -175 degrees F. I would imagine that whiskey would freeze at a much higher temp. Say...-60? Just a guess.
27
posted on
10/26/2009 7:00:32 PM PDT
by
oldvike
To: QBFimi
>>>Yes; just what we need - a One World Government to tell us riff raff what to do - or not do. Hell, maybe we shoulda followed Chamberlains lead and gone with Mr. Hitler...
Since this story is about liquor, we can hope you are merely posting while drunk.
28
posted on
10/26/2009 7:13:39 PM PDT
by
tlb
To: xzins
Important info from the article:
Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte & Mackay, the Glasgow whisky company that now owns the Mackinlay label, is eager to learn of the whisky's fate. He's equally hopeful that he gets to taste some of it.
He has a 1907 letter from Shackleton acknowledging receipt of the cases, along with a photograph of the bottles' label. The company may have donated the cases, which Paterson said cost 28 shillings each, as polar explorers came looking for sponsors for their trips, which were usually run on tight budgets. "Shackleton has been one of my heroes for many years," he said. "It's nice to think that perhaps we helped him when his other spirits were down, that our spirits kicked him up a wee bit."
Paterson said he'd expect that when bottled, the whisky was heavy and peaty, which was the style in that era. He'd like to sample it by sticking a needle through the cork and extracting some of the liquid with a syringe. If the bottles stayed airtight — a big if since the corks may have shifted as they were expanding and contracting with the changes in temperature — the whisky would likely taste much as it did in Shackleton's day, Paterson said.
A whisky's flavor develops as it's aged in barrels because air is able to reach it. Once it's bottled and cut off from external oxygen, it stops changing in taste. If oxygen was sneaking back into the bottles, the whisky would have continued aging and could have started to go bad, much like food that's left out too long.
Even if the bulk of the bottles remain in Antarctica for historic reasons, Paterson is hopeful that a couple can be returned to the company. One would go in the Mackinlay family archives and the other could be auctioned off, he said.
29
posted on
10/26/2009 7:20:37 PM PDT
by
texas booster
(Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
To: stevie_d_64
That will be some smoooooooooooth hooch...A few bottles of frozen one year old scotch? I can do that by tomorrow.
30
posted on
10/26/2009 7:22:58 PM PDT
by
Libloather
(Tea totaler, PROUD birther, mobster, pro-lifer, anti-warmer, enemy of the state...)
To: henkster
While he was taking risks as a an explorer, he NEVER lost a man on one of his expeditions. Read about the voyage of the Endurance, the open boat journey, and the trek across South Georgia. Simply amazing. I think you can get a movie from Amazon with actual footage from the expedition.
To: xzins
If you can freeze vodka, why not scotch? But I will surrender my portion to those who fancy the stuff. I’m just a wimpy, red wine drinker.
32
posted on
10/26/2009 7:30:59 PM PDT
by
GVnana
("Obama is incredibly naive and grossly egotistical." Sarkozy)
To: oldvike
33
posted on
10/26/2009 7:37:19 PM PDT
by
dr_lew
To: xzins
Initial reports coming in...
They have found four, no three, we are now told they have found two bottles of 100 year old Scotch at the site of the Shackleton expidition campsite. Details to follow....
34
posted on
10/26/2009 7:39:01 PM PDT
by
11Bush
To: dr_lew
Thanks for the response. That is one cool website. It’s in my favorites now.
35
posted on
10/26/2009 7:44:08 PM PDT
by
oldvike
To: xzins
36
posted on
10/26/2009 7:58:19 PM PDT
by
gibsosa
To: All
They had the Shackleton Exhibit up here in Massachusetts at the Peabody Essex Museum, which is a great nautical and overall museum.
He ranks as one of the singular leaders of men, of all time. If you wanted to see how to lead men, that is how it is done.
Those men were an exceptionally good crew with high morale to begin with, so that made his job easier, but even easier was beyond what most men have ever done.
37
posted on
10/26/2009 8:01:45 PM PDT
by
rlmorel
(Obama, The Flatulence of One Thousand Black Dogs After Eating Boiled Eggs Be Upon Him...)
To: xzins
Shackleton turned around 97 miles short of his destination, telling his wife, "I thought youd rather have a live donkey than a dead lion." When the ship arrived in 1909 to pick the men up
God almighty, the newsmedia can't get one fucking thing right. Shackleton pushed the Endurance southward until the ship was locked in sea ice and was eventually crushed and sunk. He and his men took to camping on icebergs drifting north and then took to 3 small boats when the ice islands got weak. They landed on Elephant Island and from there Shack and two others took the small boat Caird to a whaling station at South Georgia that sent a rescue operation. The ordeal took two years. Their tobacco was long gone at Elephant Island, along with the radio with which Shack allegedly serenaded his wife, and any hoarded Scotch.
To: xzins
To: NightOfTheLivingDems
“God almighty, the newsmedia can’t get one fucking thing right.”
No, they got that right. The reference is to Shackleton’s earlier 1909 expedition that got within 97 miles of the South Pole. The expedition you’re referring to was in 1914.
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