Explorer's whisky dug up after 100 years

Ernest Shackleton attempted to trek to the South Pole in 1909. Over a century later, the whisky he abandoned has been pulled from the ice.

Five crates of whisky and brandy were found beneath Shackleton’s Antarctic hut. The crates were damaged and a smell of whisky suggested that some of the bottles inside may have been broken.

However, the sound of sloshing when the crates were moved indicated that some have survived.

Shackleton’s team’s two-year expedition was cut short when their food ran out. They turned back when they were just 97 miles from the pole.

But the explorer’s decision to give up on the trek saved the lives of his team, and he has been celebrated for his leadership skills. Another Antarctic explorer of the time wrote: “if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time.”

The South Pole was first reached two years later by Norwegian Roald Amundsen.

The discovery of Shackleton’s whisky has excited Whyte & Mackay, the company that now owns his favoured brand.

The recipe for the century-old Scotch had been long forgotten, but their master blender said that “the original blend may be able to be replicated” from Shackleton’s stash.

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