ernest shackleton's whisky to be dug up

[brettie vedder]

a neat read for those who havent heard this story....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8361995.stm

[jcskinner]

I find it sort of bizarre and a tiny bit ghoulish.
The plan from the distiller's point of view is to get either a sealed bottle or an extract of the whiskey (removed by hypodermic through the cork) and attempt to recreate the brand from a century past, and then obviously sell it as 'Shackleton's dram'.
You can't fault the marketing coup of such an idea; whether the new whisky resembles the original or not, most people will never know and many will buy anyway.
On the other hand, the original whisky was thought to be pretty young and fiery, with a lot of smoke. So perhaps recreating the taste profile won't be too difficult, but may result in an unrewarding dram.

[JohnM]

a neat read for those who havent heard this story....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8361995.stm

It's amazing that, given the difficulty of hauling a man all the way to the Pole, with some dying along the way and nobody else on this trip making it, they chose to attempt to haul a crate of whisky with them. I wonder did they leave whisky on the moon too.

[brettie vedder]

a neat read for those who havent heard this story....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8361995.stm

It's amazing that, given the difficulty of hauling a man all the way to the Pole, with some dying along the way and nobody else on this trip making it, they chose to attempt to haul a crate of whisky with them. I wonder did they leave whisky on the moon too.

i am still questioning if they ever landed on the moon. lol

[brettie vedder]

I find it sort of bizarre and a tiny bit ghoulish.
The plan from the distiller's point of view is to get either a sealed bottle or an extract of the whiskey (removed by hypodermic through the cork) and attempt to recreate the brand from a century past, and then obviously sell it as 'Shackleton's dram'.
You can't fault the marketing coup of such an idea; whether the new whisky resembles the original or not, most people will never know and many will buy anyway.
On the other hand, the original whisky was thought to be pretty young and fiery, with a lot of smoke. So perhaps recreating the taste profile won't be too difficult, but may result in an unrewarding dram.

yea, its definitely weird alright. they should call it "jurassic park whisky."

[Whiskey Pilgrim]

Kaixo Guys,
The reason they found the Scotch whisky that was disgarded,is because they polished off the good stuff first (Irish Whiskey)remember at this time Irish Whiskey was de riguer,and Shackleton´s motley crew were mainly Irish with hard caracters like Crean McCarthy ,,Slainte !!

[John]

This report is nearly as old as the whiskey! Surprised it's only getting aired over here now.
J.

Shackleton's whiskey found in Antarctic ice
05/02/2010 11:34:59
Eircom.net


Five crates of Scotch whiskey buried under Antarctic ice for more than 100 years have been recovered by a heritage team restoring explorer Ernest Shackleton's hut. Five crates of Scotch whiskey buried under Antarctic ice for more than 100 years have been recovered by a heritage team restoring explorer Ernest Shackleton's hut.

New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team leader Al Fastier says he believes some bottles are still intact.

The whiskey was made by McKinlay and Co and drinks group Whyte & Mackay has asked for a sample to carry out tests with a view to re-launching the defunct brand.

Ice cracked some of the bottles that had been left there in 1909, but the restorers said today they are confident the five crates contain intact bottles "given liquid can be heard when the crates are moved".

New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team leader Al Fastier said the team thought there were two whiskey and brandy crates and were amazed to find five.

Mr Fastier said restoration workers found the crates under the hut's floorboards in 2006, but they were too deeply embedded in ice to be dislodged.

The New Zealanders agreed to drill the ice to try to retrieve some bottles, although the rest must stay under conservation guidelines agreed to by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations.

Mr Fastier said: "The unexpected find of the brandy crates, one labeled Chas. Mackinlay & Co and the other labeled The Hunter Valley Distillery Limited Allandale (Australia) are a real bonus."

Ice has cracked some of the crates and formed inside them. Mr Fastier said that would make extracting the contents delicate, but the trust would decide how to do so in coming weeks.

Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, whose company supplied the Mackinlay's whiskey for Shackleton, described the find as "a gift from the heavens for whiskey lovers".

"If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analysed, the original blend may be able to be replicated. Given the original recipe no longer exists, this may open a door into history," he said in a statement.

Shackleton's expedition ran short of supplies on its long ski trek to the South Pole from the northern Antarctic coast in 1907/09 and turned back about 100 miles short of its goal.

The expedition sailed away in 1909 as winter ice formed, leaving behind supplies, including the whiskey and brandy.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I think the disparity is that it was found last year but they are only getting it out now ...

Of course you do know that there would have been many cases of Irish Whiskey there too but they drank the good stuff first

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

The saga continues ...

Looks like Whyte & Mackay will get some after all ... and the feeding frenzy will start.

Some lunatic valued the bottles at circa 70,000 US dollars

Me thinks there will be a very expensive limited edition comming from this ... I don't care how old it is ... it is still probably a fairly bog standard blend ...


See Here

[brettie vedder]

The saga continues ...

Looks like Whyte & Mackay will get some after all ... and the feeding frenzy will start.

Some lunatic valued the bottles at circa 70,000 US dollars

Me thinks there will be a very expensive limited edition comming from this ... I don't care how old it is ... it is still probably a fairly bog standard blend ...


See Here

saw an ad for a documentary coming on discovery channel (i think) called the great white something or other. looks like it might be about shackleton, but im not sure. maybe they will mention something about the whiskey. 70,000 bucks...haha. would be funny if it was nasty stuff. i would rather spend 40 on a bottle of lap and call it a day

[jcskinner]

And now the great experiment to recreate century old hooch begins in Earnest (sorry! )

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20110117/to ... 58bda.html

[DavidH]

Whyte and Mackay's owner "personally collected them and flew them back to Scotland". That was a good job sneaking them past security.

[John]

Well it's finally arrived. Shackleton's Whisky, Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Jaysus .... that's didn't take long ... I expected them to be at this for a good while.

Any indication on price?

I suppose the requirement is that you have to drink this with ice

[JohnM]

Around the £100 mark, give a take a few quid, depending on the retailer. There will be 50,000 of them, so... Nicely packaged, though.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I think I'll be leaving this one on the shelf ... Basically a £100 for what was probably a bog standard blend of the time. I was thinking that 50 quid would be expensive for it and as usual the wooden box adds greatly to the price tag. But I do have to agree I do like the look of it ...

Baaaa hum bug ...

A nice cool £5 mill to be bled from whiskey enthusiasts and yes I'm being very cynical on this one but not surprised.

[bredman]

Basically a £100 for what was probably a bog standard blend of the time.

Everyone should note this is a "Highland Malt Whisky" and not a blend. The oldest malt in it is some Glen Mhor, (but i don't know how much of it).

[bredman]

A nice big picture.



The age of malts in this vatting is 8 - 30 and it is not coloured or chill-filtered (i assume Paterson was overruled on this ). According to Dave Broom (the only person other than RP to taste them both) "it was well-balanced, with soft fruity characters and a touch of smoke, and not at all what was expected." He said the replica blend of several malts is excellent, and a close approximation, though not an exact copy (the W&M website quotes him as saying the reproduction was "bang on").

IWC 50 quid would be about the right price imo, even with the wooden box, £100 for essentially an 8yo vatted malt is a bit much.

[John]

Hi Bredman,
If it isn't a blend then why does it say 'Blended & Bottled by......' on the label?
Also, is Highland Malt Whiskey a proper designation?
Just curious.
J.

Incidentally, I would agree on the price of £50 or so for something re-created in a laboratory over the period of two months, whereby they were able to re-create the exact wood aging experienced by the liquid prior to and having experienced over a hundred years of sub-zero temperatures. Yes someone would definitely have to give me £50 to buy all that marketing bluster

[JohnM]

It's a blend in the SWA definition of the term - malts from different distilleries. But there's no grain in it.

[Luke Gough]

Here's Serge's review: http://www.whiskyfun.com/#110411

[JohnM]

Shackleton, being Irish, would fit Serge's definition of an Irish person - dedicated street drinkers!

Shackleton clearly would not appreciate a good single malt.

[John]

Was Shackleton Irish? I know one of the exploration party, Tom Crean, was from Kerry.
J.

[JohnM]

Was Shackleton Irish? I know one of the exploration party, Tom Crean, was from Kerry.
J.

Yeah, he was Irish. Or Anglo-Irish, really. He was from Kildare, although he may have been educated in England. Not sure about that.

[bredman]

Officially British, he was awarded the CVO and the OBE. He was actually Anglo-Irish (good stock ).

Ernest Shackleton was born on 15 February 1874, in Kilkea near Athy, County Kildare, Ireland, about 30 miles (48 km) from Dublin. Ernest's father, Henry, and mother, born Henrietta Letitia Sophia Gavan, were of Anglo-Irish ancestry

His family moved to London when he was 10.

Partly this was in search of better professional prospects for the newly qualified doctor [his father], but another factor may have been unease about their Anglo-Irish ancestry, following the assassination by Irish nationalists of Lord Frederick Cavendish, the British Chief Secretary for Ireland, in 1882