Very cool. Especially since I like scotch whisky...
Shack was one tough dude.
Anyone know at what temperature whisky freezes?
I'm thinking it's in good shape.
I could forgive him everything except leaving behind the Scotch, unforgivable! ;-)
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.
Apparently he liked his whiskey on ice.
>> An international treaty dictates that the crates, and any intact bottles that are inside, remain in Antarctica ...
OK! 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 Chamberlain’s lead and gone with Mr. Hitler... /s
E.S. was one of the great leaders of men
That will be some smoooooooooooth hooch...
But why all the surprise (by some) that they stocked the stuff on this expedition???
There was certainly not going to be all that much to do but, mush the poor dogs, eat salt pork, and probably the dogs eventually...
And freeze yer arse off...
Take a few slugs of that stuff makes the unbearable, somewhat tolerable...
I kinda laugh at the so-called “modern” adventurers who make these treks with low-residue powerbars and Evian water...Woo Hoo...You go you Greenpeace Eco-freaks...hehehe
Don’t forget to pack yer Ozone probes...hahaha
Did he leave a note with the supplies?
I’ve been on a FReeper cruise and to a FReeper rally. There has been a FReeper convention (still bummed I missed it).
Has there ever been a FReeper expedition?
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....
That’s some serious Scotch on the rocks.
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.
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.
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....
bump
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.