The long-rumored, long-sought cases of brandy and whisky buried by the famous explorer Ernest Shackelton in Antarctica has finally been located and unearthed.  Buried over 100 years ago by the polar explorer, researchers finally brought the crates up from its icy grave and discovered several broken bottles, but the sound of swishing liquid in other crates indicates several bottles will remain intact once the lid is lifted.

It was anticipated that no more than two creates would be found, but researchers managed to locate five crates.

“The unexpected find of the brandy crates, one labelled Chas. Mackinlay & Co and the other labelled The Hunter Valley Distillery Limited Allandale (Australia) are a real bonus,” said team leader Al Fastier.

The crates were originally found under the hut’s floorboards in 2006, but they were too deeply embedded in ice to be dislodged.

The New Zealanders agreed to drill the ice to try to retrieve some bottles, although the rest must stay under conservation guidelines agreed to by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations.

Whyte & Mackay, which owns the McKinlay brand and supplied the whisky for Shackleton, launched the bid to recover the bottles for samples to test and decide whether to relaunch the defunct spirit.

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