-
Source: Reuters -
Watch Video
-
Related
A New Zealand expedition is travelling to Antarctica in January to attempt to unearth a rare treasure once thought extinct.
The treasure is not fossilised wildlife, however - it is two crates of whisky buried by Ernest Shackleton on his failed expedition to the South Pole 100 years ago.
Among the supplies British explorer Sir Ernest Shackelton abandoned on his unsuccessful 1909 expedition to the pole were two crates of the now extinct rare old brand of McKinlay and Co whisky.
"[We] were actually excavating the ice out from underneath Shackleton's hut [at Capre Royd's] as part of the conservation programme& when we came across two crates, and they had whisky written on them," Al Fastier of the Antarctic Heritage Trust told ONE News of the excavation conducted three years ago
Now Whyte & Mackay, the drinks giant that owns McKinlay and Co, has asked for a sample of the drink for a series of experiments, the Telegraph newspaper reported in London.
The New Zealanders will use special drills to free the trapped crates and rescue a bottle from the crates, discarded near the Cape Royds hut used by the Nimrod expedition, or at least draw off a sample using a syringe.
The crates were discovered in January 2006, but the bottle couldn't be removed as they were too deeply embedded.
Though the New Zealanders have agreed to try to retrieve some bottles, international protocols agreed by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations say the crates can only be taken off Antarctica for conservation reasons.
Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay's master blender, has said that if he can get a sample, he intends to replicate the famous old whisky.
IWhyte and McKay say whisky may taste the same if it's been kept airtight - which raises the possibility to re-create the famous old malt.
"I really hope we can get some back here. It's been laying there lonely and neglected. It should come back to Scotland where it was born.
"Even if most of the bottles have to remain in Antarctica for historic reasons, it would be good if we could get a couple."
Paterson says the Shackleton expedition's whisky could still be drinkable and taste exactly how it did 100 years ago.
Latest NZ News Video
-
ONE News Minute 9am update: May 26 (1:00)
-
Kids cough up $14m for Government (1:50)
-
Education ministry 'barbaric' (1:55)
