100 Year-Old Scotch Whiskey Found in Frozen Crate

It was trapped in Antarctic ice for a century and finally unveiled on Friday, August 13, 2010.  Bad news, whiskey lovers.  The Scotch whiskey won't be available to drink.  Instead, it is being preserved for historical significance and for possible replication by master blenders.

Eleven bottles of Mackinlay's Scotch whiskey dating to 1896 or 1897 were found in a crate that was discovered in the Antarctic hut of Sir Ernest Shackleton in 2006 and slowly thawed at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand.  The whiskey was found wrapped in paper and straw to protect it during transit for Sir Shackletons 1907 Nimrod expedition.  The crate itself was frozen solid but the whiskey still sloshed in its bottles as the -22F (-30C) Antarctic weather wasn't enough to freeze the liquor.

Samples will be taken from the whiskey and sent to Scottish distiller Whyte and Mackay.  Once that is done, all eleven bottles will be returned to where they were found:  beneath the floorboards of Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds on Ross Island, near Antarctica's McMurdo Sound.  The samples have been taken so master blenders can try and replicate the liquor since the recipe for it no longer exists.

For more information and to watch a news video of the Scotch whiskey, you can refer to this article.