8/2010 Century Old Scotch Whisky Found at the South Pole

This story—about the discovery of century-old Chas. Mackinlay and Co. Scotch whisky being found at the South Pole—broke a while ago.  But, here are two fun updates.

First, the bottles have been retrieved and the crate opened. The Associated Press reports

The crate was painstakingly opened to reveal 11 bottles of Mackinlay’s Scotch whisky, wrapped in paper and straw to protect them from the rigors of a rough trip to Antarctica for Shackleton’s 1907 Nimrod expedition.  The crate, recovered from the Antarctic hut of renowned explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton after it was found there in 2006, has been thawed very slowly in recent weeks at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island.

The Canterbury Museum in New Zealand has some videos of the bottles during and after extraction.

Second, Richard Paterson, the master blender for Whyte and Mackay (the company that acquired Chas. Mackinlay) has a web page devoted to Shackleton whiskies. The site has video, photographs, and more.