WELLINGTON, New Zealand – This Scotch has been on the rocks for a century.
Five crates of Scotch whisky and two of brandy have been recovered by a team restoring an Antarctic hut used more than 100 years ago by famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Ice cracked some of the bottles that had been left there in 1909, but the restorers said Friday 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 crates and were amazed to find five.
Current distillery owner, drinks group Whyte & Mackay, launched the bid to recover the Scotch whisky for samples to test and decide whether to relaunch the defunct spirit made by distiller McKinlay and Co.
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.
“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,” said Fastier.
Ice has cracked some of the crates and formed inside them. Fastier said in a statement 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 whisky for Shackleton, described the find as “a gift from the heavens for whisky lovers.”
“If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analyzed, 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 1907-1909 and turned back about 100 miles (160 kilometers) short of its goal.
The expedition sailed away in 1909 as winter ice formed, leaving behind supplies, including the whisky and brandy.”
I have always admired the British psychology as it relates to men’s mentality; they cleverly match up a man’s deeds with his name to achieve immortality, Gordon of Khartoum, Montgomery of El Alamein,Marlborough of Blenheim, Lawrence of Arabia, Mountbatten of Burma…..Shackleton of The Endurance.
Shackleton
“At the end of the 20th century Shackleton was “rediscovered”, and rapidly became a cult figure, a role model for leadership as one who, in extreme circumstances, kept his team together to accomplish a survival story which polar historian Stephanie Barczewski describes as “incredible”.”
I belong to the Shackleton cult.
They once asked President to fire General Grant because he was a drunk, even though he was winning battles; Lincoln replied, “Find the brand of whiskey Grant is drinking, and send it to all my Generals.”
They found Shackleton’s whiskey; they should send to to all our leaders, starting with the people in Washington.
The ENDURANCE stuck in Antarctica ice.
“Dramatic photography of the Endurance expedition. This must be one of the greatest survival stories of all time. These dramatic photos by Frank Hurley, tell the tale.
Shackleton’s third polar expedition came in the wake of the tragic death, in the Antarctic, of Robert Falcon Scott, Shackleton was determined to be the first to cross the Antarctic by foot and claim the last prize in polar exploration for Britain. … Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven seamen and scientists set sail on the Endurance not to be heard from for nearly two years. ”
For Shackleton and the men of the Endurance it was a particularly cold winter, and the pack ice of the Weddell Sea extended further north than anyone could remember. The Endurance began following leads to navigate through the pack ice, on route to its intended landfall. Just one day’s sail from the Antarctic continent, temperatures plummeted and the ship became trapped. Frozen fast for ten months…”
“Water started leaking in, .. Shackleton gave the order to abandon ship, saying, “She’s going down!”; and men, provisions and equipment were transferred to camps on the ice. On 21 November 1915, the wreck finally slipped beneath the surface.
For almost two months Shackleton and his party camped on a large, flat floe, hoping that it would drift towards Paulet Island, approximately 250 miles (402 km) away, where it was known that stores were cached. After failed attempts to march across the ice to this island, Shackleton decided to set up another more permanent camp (Patience Camp) on another floe, and trust to the drift of the ice to take them towards a safe landing. By 17 March their ice camp was within 60 miles (97 km) of Paulet Island but, separated by impassable ice, they were unable to reach it. On 9 April their ice floe broke into two, and Shackleton ordered the crew into the lifeboats, to head for the nearest land. After five harrowing days at sea the exhausted men landed their three lifeboats at Elephant Island. This was the first time they had stood on solid ground for 497 days. Shackleton’s concern for his men was such that he gave his mittens to photographer Frank Hurley, who had lost his during the boat journey. Shackleton suffered frostbitten fingers as a result”
The crew of the ENDURANCE shipping out on lifeboats.
Elephant Island was an inhospitable place, far from any shipping routes. Consequently, Shackleton decided to risk an open-boat journey to the distant South Georgia whaling stations, where he knew help was available. The strongest of the lifeboats, christened James Caird after the expedition’s chief sponsor, was chosen for the trip. Ship’s carpenter Harry McNish made various improvements, including raising the sides, strengthening the keel, building a makeshift deck of wood and canvas, and sealing the work with oil paint and seal blood. Shackleton chose five companions for the journey: Frank Worsley, Endurance’s captain, who would be responsible for navigation; Tom Crean, who had “begged to go”; two strong sailors in John Vincent and Timothy McCarthy, and finally the carpenter McNish.
Shackleton refused to pack supplies for more than four weeks, knowing that if they did not reach South Georgia within that time, the boat and its crew would be lost. The James Caird was launched on 24 April 1916; during the next fifteen days it sailed through the waters of the southern ocean, at the mercy of the stormy seas, in constant peril of capsizing. On 8 May, due to Worsley’s navigational skills, the cliffs of South Georgia came into sight, but hurricane-force winds prevented the possibility of landing. The party were forced to ride out the storm offshore, in constant danger of being dashed against the rocks. They would later learn that the same hurricane had sunk a 500-ton steamer bound for South Georgia from Buenos Aires. On the following day they were able, finally, to land on the unoccupied southern shore. After a period of rest and recuperation, rather than risk putting to sea again to reach the whaling stations on the northern coast, Shackleton decided to attempt a land crossing of the island. … no one had attempted this particular route before. Leaving McNish, Vincent and McCarthy at the landing point on South Georgia, Shackleton travelled with Worsley and Crean over mountainous terrain for 36 hours to reach the whaling station at Stromness.
The next successful crossing of South Georgia was in October 1955, by the British explorer Duncan Carse, who travelled much of the same route as Shackleton’s party. In tribute to their achievement he wrote: “I do not know how they did it, except that they had to—three men of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration with 50 feet of rope between them….”
Shackleton immediately sent a boat to pick up the three men from the other side of South Georgia while he set to work to organise the rescue of the Elephant Island men. His first three attempts were foiled by sea ice, which blocked the approaches to the island. He appealed to the Chilean government, which offered the use of Yelcho, a small seagoing tug from its navy. Yelcho reached Elephant Island on 30 August, and Shackleton quickly evacuated all 22 men.
The author of CATCHER IN THE RYE
GAIL RUSSELL
