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Food

Want to Drink This 121-Year-Old Time Capsule Whiskey?

Some Scottish construction workers have stumbled across a time capsule containing a very, very well-aged bottle of whisky. But is it any good?
Hilary Pollack
Los Angeles, US
Photo via Flickr user slgc

It's been a good year for treasure hunting … if your preferred form of treasure is really fucking old booze.

Earlier this year, professional tasters offered their notes on some roughly 170-year-old beer and Champagne found in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. The good news: the Champagne was pretty great! It had sweetened despite losing some of its carbonation, and had aromas of "lime blossoms, coffee, [and] chanterelles." The bad news: the beer was, and perhaps this was even being generous, "vinegary, goaty, and soured milk[-like]." But that hasn't stopped a Finnish beer company called Stallhagen Brewery from making plans to replicate it. (Surely, you can't wait to get your paws on the same ale that your great-great-great-great-grandparents once enjoyed.)

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READ: This Is What 200-Year-Old Beer and Champagne Tastes Like

But supposing you're a wannabe dusty hunter who has also wondered about the smoky joys of old-as-all-hell whisky, you're in a great luck.

Some construction workers in Scotland—specifically, "near Kingussie in the Cairngorms"—dug up a time capsule from 1894 containing what appears to be a worse-for-wear-but-very-intact bottle of whisky.

time-capsule-whiskey

How did they know that it was from 121 years ago? Simple—the capsule also contained a newspaper and other dated documents. The capsule was sealed into a cornerstore of the Ruthven Road bridge, which led to a moment of reflection for the workers.

"The changes which have occurred since it was placed there are extraordinary," Robert Ogg of construction company Morgan Sindall told the BBC. "If you think that the bridge was being used by horses back then, it gives you a sense of the time which has passed."

But not that much has changed, Sweet Robert. We are all still thirsty as hell for whisky. So let's pop that sucker open and give it a swill, shall we?

READ: This 97-Year-Old Fruitcake Might Outlive Us All

Not so fast. The contents of the capsule have been handed over to the nearby Highland Folk Museum for examination and preservation.

But perhaps this could serve as inspiration for a new Scottish version of National Treasure, wherein some international criminals desperately vie for a taste of the certainly well-aged Scotch.

Or we could just bury a bottle now and hope that our friends in 2185 know where to find it.