The ill-fated 1907-1909 Shackleford Expedition to the South Pole ran short of supplies about 100 miles short of its goal; as winter ice formed, they sailed away, leaving behind many supplies, including five crates of some pretty good scotch.
The crates, buried under the Shackleford outpost hut floorboards, have been recovered by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team, which is restoring the Shackleford site for posterity. Trust team leader Al Fastier said that, given some luck, some of the bottles may be safely extracted. Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, whose company supplied the whiskey, described the find as 'a gift from the heavens for whiskey lovers.'
So what happens now? Some very careful digging, most probably. And given we are now living in the insane 21st century, we can probably look forward to a few bottles being sold at auction to an AIG executive as part of his 2010 bonus!
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