Posted on 02/06/2010 9:26:13 AM PST by DogByte6RER
Am reading two books now on Shackleton’s leadership principles, one by his granddaughter. There is a ton of material on him on Amazon.
I wonder if the stuff in the crates was blended or single malt. I think Whyte and Mackay was making both at the time.
Someone’s gonna make a few bucks.
Yes, it’s the cork, allowing a small amount of air circulation over time. Note: whisky bottles a century ago were corked, too!
That yucky stuff. Yuck.
Going bad is usually a function of lack of cork contact...bottles stored upright allow the cork to dry, which cork then shrinks and allows bacteria to enter and contaminate the bottle.
But it's true, wines do change in the bottle over time even when the cork remains wet and tight. This is because wine isn't distilled; there are live microorganisms continuing to live and metabolize substances in the wine over the course of years, albeit in tiny amounts.
Because liquors are distilled, there's no microbial action. Changes in flavor over time in distilled beverages are due to strictly physical and chemical actions, not microbial ones. Whiskey changes in the barrel due to interaction with the wood. It soaks up vanilla-like flavors from good white oak. In a charred cask, the charcoal lining the container gradually soaks up trace fusel oils that ruin flavor and smoothness. Glass can't do any of those things.
I think that would make it very interesting to present-day whiskey blenders . . . a benchmark to see if tastes have changed.
I’ve also read a biography of Shackleton. Our civilization just isn’t producing MEN like him any more. He may have been the most inspiring leader of all time. His expeditions endured unimaginable hardships, but he never lost a single man.
Note to your note: Any decent single malt is corked to this day.
I find it interesting that this man’s name and fame has come up in threads yesterday and today. The thread yesterday compared Sarah Palin to Shackleton and recited his leadership in rescuing his men from Elephant Island. Maybe whoever posted it had already seen this report.
good lord
What the H*ll is the point of leaving the Scotch there ? It's a consumable. Why not auction it off to fund further scientific study of the Antartic?
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