14 Aug 2010

Shackleton's whisky finally opened

11:36 am on 14 August 2010

A crate of scotch whisky trapped in Antarctic ice more than a century has finally been opened.

Eleveb bottles of Mackinlay brand whisky, dating from 1896, made by the Whyte & MacKay company were discovered at the hut of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton in 2006.

The Shackleton expedition was unsuccessful and the base, and the whisky, were abandoned in 1907.

It's been slowly thawed at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch and was opened there on Friday.

No-one knew how the liquid might have fared after so long in Antarctic temperatures.

The BBC describes the contents as "a whisky lover's dream".

The original recipe for the blend no longer exists, but distillers hope they can replicate it.