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.Disappointingly, when I read about 100 year old scotch I got all excited. However, because it hasn't spent 100 years aging in oak barrels its not really 100-year old scotch: its probably 8-year old scotch that's been sitting in a bottle for 100 years. It's neat that they are ressurecting an old recipie and all that jazz, but it is not "100 year old scotch" as anybody who's a connoisseur of malted beverages can tell you.
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.
This is not the first time I've written about how people are confused about the aging of malt whiskeys versus the aging of wine. I somehow know that it won't be the last.
