Rare Scotch Survives 100 Years in Explorer’s Hut
About Michael John ScottMr. Scott is the owner and publisher of Mad Mike's America. He is a U.S. Army veteran, career law enforcement executive, and dog trainer. He is a university professor, and criminal justice consultant, holding several degrees, including a master's in criminal justice and human services. He has completed the requisite coursework toward his doctorate, and is still working on his dissertation.
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I like a good scotch, a lot, so when I read this story I was intrigued to say the least.
A crate of the long-lost Scotch, found in 2010. (AP Photo/Antarctic Heritage Trust)
Three bottles of rare, 19th-century Scotch found beneath the floor boards of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackelton’s abandoned expedition base were returned to the polar continent today. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key personally returned the Scotch to Antarctic Heritage Trust officials at a ceremony at New Zealand’s Antarctic base on Ross Island. The bottles will be transferred by March from Ross Island to the desolate hut at Cape Royds, where they had been forgotten for 102 years.
The bottles of Mackinlay’s whisky, bottled in 1898 after the blend was aged 15 years, were among three crates of Scotch and two of brandy found in 2010 beneath a basic hut Shackleton had used during his 1907 Antarctic excursion. Distiller Whyte & Mackay, which now owns the Mackinlay brand, drew a sample with a syringe through a cork of one of the bottles. The original recipe is long gone, but the distiller recreated a limited edition of 50,000 bottles.
James Smith
January 19, 2013 at 9:38 am
But not aged over 100 years. It would be wasted on me anyway. I can barely detect any difference between Johnny Walker Black and my “value-priced” Grants. Not even with the first drink. After that, as every bartender knows, you can substitute almost anything.
The exception to this may be Tanqueray Gin. That’s pretty distinctive.
HenryPollock49
January 19, 2013 at 11:01 am
Tanqueray is my drink of choice but I like a good scotch.
James Smith
January 19, 2013 at 12:12 pm
I was introduced to Tanqueray and tonic by a woman friend back in the 80′s. I later thanked her the best way I knew how. I let her live in a house I owned for free for six months while she was recovering financially from a divorce. I have never regretted that or the Tanqueray.
Bill Formby
January 19, 2013 at 11:57 am
Your taste buds must be going bad James. I can tell the difference between JW Red and JW Black and JW Blue, and all of those from most any thing else. That’s not saying one is better than others but my they just are my preference.
James Smith
January 19, 2013 at 12:10 pm
Maybe I just don’t indulge enough. I do have a small glass of red wine each evening, but I have it for its purported medicinal values. I do get the cheapest I can find (here, Chilean) and a 750 ml bottle lasts four days for me.
The Grants I usually have once a week. I know I have my faults, but alcohol and gambling are not among them. Fortunately, that leaves plenty of latitude for other things
I didn’t even know there was JW Blue. I think I have only seen red, black, and green.
Les Carpenter
January 19, 2013 at 4:33 pm
Nothing, absolutely nothing IMNHO can beat a single malt Scotch shed 12 years or better.
James Smith
January 19, 2013 at 5:00 pm
How good can it be if it took them 12 years to find someone to buy it?
Where I used to live in Virginia and Alabama, the local distillers sold their product the same month if not the same week!