An Antarctic Expedition — For Scotch

Anchorman Ron Burgundy proudly told the world "I love Scotch," and we can only imagine he would give a thumbs-up to a most unusual mission launching in January. It's an Antarctic expedition for non-other than Scotch itself.

The New Zealand explorers embarking on this chilly journey are tasked with retrieving several bottles of the "Rare Old" brand of McKinlay and Co. whisky that has been buried under the Antarctic ice for exactly 100 years.

The company donated crates of whisky to Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1907 when he and his team set out for a treacherous trek to the South Pole. Unbearable weather conditions forced the group to be rescued in 1909, and all supplies were left behind at their hut at Cape Royds, including the Scotch. The booze was discovered in January 2006, but it was too embedded in ice to be retrieved.

Now, Whyte & Mackay, the whiskey titans who own McKinlay and Co. would like to get at least some bottles back to see what it tastes like and whether the now-defunct label can be produced again.

"I really hope we can get some back here. It's been laying there lonely and neglected. It should come back to Scotland where it was born," Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson told the London Telegraph. He's hopeful the taste has not changed in the century it's been under the ice.

Al Fastier from the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust will lead the expedition, but says he has no interest in tasting the fruits of his labor once the Scotch is retrieved. "It's better to imagine it than to taste it. That way it keeps its mystery."

So let's all raise our snifters and wish Fastier and his team good luck on their most unusual mission.

Photo courtesy of NASA via Wikimedia Commons.