Three bottles of whisky abandoned in Antarctica by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton more than a century ago will be sent to Scotland for scientific analysis, according to reports.

The bottles of Mackinlay’s whisky were part of a cache recovered last year from beneath Shackleton’s Antarctic hut, built in 1908 as part of his failed attempt to reach the South Pole, national news agency NZPA reported.

It said the whisky would be sent to the Whyte & Mackay distillery in Scotland, which now owns the Mackinlay’s brand, where it would be analysed in an attempt to recreate the original recipe.

The wooden crate containing the whisky, marked British Antarctic Expedition 1907, was frozen solid in the -30°C temperatures but the whisky in the bottles was still liquid.

Two more crates of whiskey, along with two of brandy, were also discovered but they were left under the floorboards of Shackleton’s hut.

The whisky is believed to have been bottled in Scotland in 1896 or 1897, making it among the oldest in the world.

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