A case of whisky which spent more than 100 years buried in the Antarctic is being returned to Scotland.
The scotch was buried beneath a hut used by the explorer Ernest Shackleton during his unsuccessful 1907 to 1909 expedition to reach the South Pole. Five cases were dug up last year, before being carefully thawed by museum officials in New Zealand.One of these cases - of Mackinlay whisky - is now being flown to Scotland.Distillers Whyte and Mackay, which owns the McKinlay brand, were keen to get hold of a bottle. Now a case is on the personal jet owned by Vijay Mallya, the billionaire owner of the Glasgow-based firm. Shackleton's expedition to the South Pole, which set off from New Zealand in January 1908, was part of the heroic age of exploration. Scott was already preparing for his journey to the pole - an objective he reached just after his rival Amundsen in 1912, but which cost Scott his own life and that of four comrades. Shackleton turned back in time to keep all of his party safe. "A live donkey is better than a dead lion" was how he summed up his attitude. The expedition's ship had left Cape Royds hurriedly in March 1909 as winter ice began forming in the sea, with some equipment and supplies, including the whisky, left behind. | 