Amazing whiskey story on the New York Times Lede blog right now.

From the article:
“…three crates of Scotch whiskey and two crates of brandy left beneath the floorboards of a hut by the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1909, at the end of a failed expedition to the South Pole, have been unearthed by a team from the Antarctic Heritage Trust.”

The scotch, donated to Shackleton’s expedition by McKinlay and Co., was a blend called Rare and Old. Its recipe has since been lost, according to the blog of master blender Richard Patterson. He is a representative of Whyte and Mackay, the company than owns the McKinlay brand. From his blog:

“…whiskies back then – a harder age – were all quite heavy and peaty as that was the style. And depending on the storage conditions it may still have that heaviness. For example, it may taste the same as it did back then if the cork has stayed in the bottle and kept it airtight. But if the whisky is on its side, the cork may have been eroded by the whisky or air may have got in some other way – especially if the corks have been contracting and expanding with the temperature changes over the years and seasons.”

Apparently the crates were first found in 2006, but the expedition was unable to extract them from the ice until this week. If the whiskey is intact, it can be used to recreate the Rare Old recipe, says Patterson.

Pretty wild. If all this puts you in the mood for some scotch on ice, there are some fantastic bottles downtown at the Bookstore Bar and the Whisky Bar.