Shackleton update – someone’s stolen a bottle of whisky!

Richard Paterson

From Richard Paterson;

As The Great Whisky Crate Thaw reveals, it turns out that instead of there being 12 bottles of whisky in the crate, there was only 11! As Karin from the team puts it:

Much to our surprise we found 11 bottles in the crate – one straw cover was empty! And, it was a cover tucked in at the back of the crate, inaccessible through the ice layer. So, some speculation amongst the team – was the bottle removed hastily, leaving the cover behind, or did someone extract a bottle and leave the cover in place, hoping the disappearance wouldn’t be noted?

The bottles are now out the crates – click on the pics below to go to the blog and see how close they are to revealing the bottles in all their glory…

http://whiskythaw.canterburymuseum.com/the-bottles-are-out-of-the-box/

http://whiskythaw.canterburymuseum.com/a-closer-look/

An update from the man himself 13-8-2010;

Shackleton’s whisky revealed at last!

Finally! Shackleton’s whisky has been thawed enough that the straw and wrappings can come off to get a good idea of the bottle. This is a fantastic moment and well done to the team for their patience in getting to this stage.

I’m told that the shoulder label says

British Antarctic Expedition
1907
Ship Endurance

while the bottle reads:

Rare Old
Highland
Malt Whisky

Blended and Bottled by
Chas. Mackinlay & Co
Blenders and Distillers
Leith and Inverness

I’m saying nothing about my previous prediction but for those interested in more here’s the press release that’s being issued today about the whisky…

Shackleton’s whisky revealed
After much anticipation, the contents of a whisky crate from Ernest Shackleton’s 1908 British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition have been revealed today.

A team of Antarctic Heritage Trust and Canterbury Museum conservators have been examining and working on the crate for the last two weeks in a purpose built cool room. As the ice inside gradually thawed the team was able to examine the contents, and today they extracted several intact bottles labelled “Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky”.

“It’s been a delicate and slow process but we are delighted to be able to confirm that the crate contains intact bottles of whisky,” said Lizzie Meek, Antarctic Heritage Trust Artefacts Manager.

Eleven bottles of the 114-year old whisky have been recovered of which remarkably ten appear perfectly intact despite their labels having deteriorated. The wording “British Antarctic Expedition 1907 Ship Endurance” is still visible on some of the bottles. As it transpired Shackleton never changed the name of the ship Nimrod to Endurance for this expedition.

Intriguingly, one bottle is missing from the packing inside the crate. This is consistent with where the crate itself appears to have been jimmied open and the timber broken. “Perhaps one of Shackleton‟s crew just couldn‟t resist a tipple,” said Ms Meek.

Each of the bottles will be carefully assessed and conserved in the coming weeks.

The Antarctic Heritage Trust plans to work with the owners of the Mackinlay‟s brand, Whyte and Mackay, to extract and analyse the whisky. “The ultimate aim is to replicate the original blend so that whisky drinkers the world over can enjoy this gift from the whisky gods. There is much to do before we know if this is possible” said Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay’s master blender.

Images of the whisky bottles and video of the conservators at work can be seen in the project blog set up at http://whiskythaw.canterburymuseum.com/

It is expected the crate and its contents will remain on display at Canterbury Museum for the next month. Following conservation and analysis the intention is to eventually return them to Antarctica.

Contacts

Nigel Watson, Executive Director, Antarctic Heritage Trust, Tel +64 (3) 358 0212, M +64 (0) 21 432 104. www.nzaht.org

Karin Stahel, Communications Manager, Canterbury Museum, Tel +64 (3) 366 9429 ext: 869 kstahel@canterburymuseum.com

Contact for HD footage of the crate’s discovery and excavation from Antarctica

Emma Smithies, Senior Legal and Business Affairs Executive, Talkback Thames, London, England, Tel +44 207 691 6848 emma.smithies@talkbackthames.tv

Background

New Zealand’s Antarctic Heritage Trust cares for the four iconic expedition huts in the Ross Dependency including Ernest Shackleton‟s only Antarctic base which is at Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica.

Canterbury Museum is located on Rolleston Avenue, in the Cultural Precinct, next to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and opposite The Arts Centre on Worcester Boulevard. General admission to the Museum is free; donations are appreciated.