100-year-old whisky goes home to Scotland

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EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A case of whiskey buried and frozen in the Antarctice for more than 100 years has been returned to its original distillery in Scotland, officials said.

The case of scotch was one of five buried beneath a hut used by the explorer Ernest Shackleton during his unsuccessful 1907 to 1909 expedition to reach the South Pole, the BBC reported Monday.

The five cases were recovered last year and carefully thawed by museum officials in New Zealand.

One of the cases, containing Mackinlay whiskey, has been flown to Scotland by distilling company White and Mackay, which now owns the Mackinlay brand.

Master blender Richard Paterson will spend up to six weeks analyzing the whiskey in a laboratory before reporting back to the Antarctic Heritage Trust.

"It is an absolute honor to be able to use my experience to analyze this amazing spirit for the benefit of the Trust and the whiskey industry," Paterson said.

After Shackleton's unsuccessful attempt to reach the South Pole, his ship left the Antarctic hurriedly in March 1909 as winter ice began forming in the sea, leaving behind some equipment and supplies, including the whiskey.

After the analysis the bottles will be returned to Shackleton's hut, now a historical site.