Of course we’ll have to wait and see what the implications are for the bottle being on the side like that – has the whisky reached the cork and perhaps partially eroded it? Has the ice and water got inside the whisky?

Such mysteries still to find out!

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• Towards zero – defrosting the whisky to zero degrees
• A new home for Shackleton whisky
• Visitors come from far and wide to see the Shackleton Whisky, including a Whyte & Mackay employee (but not the one you expect)

And of course I spoke about it on the latest episode (no. 271) of the Whiskycast as well.

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Well, he’s gone and written a fairly comprehensive blog post about using Twitter, Facebook, email, podcasts, YouTube and other forms of web 2.0 to increase audiences and profits for pubs and hotels.

He’s also giving away a bottle of 22 year old Whyte & Mackay whisky (and he’s placed the video of the tasting notes in the post), which may be another incentive to head over and read the post.

I hope it’s of use to some and of interest to others. Now I’m away to see if there’s any tips for getting my Twitter following to 100,000!

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And now I can answer at least part of that because the whisky is now off the South Pole with pictures and video…

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s a press release attached to this link and a blog has also been set up – which has up to the date information (and the IT types have put a feed in at the side of the page as well for it I’m told).

There’s also some brand new video footage here and here (sorry I can’t embed them).

So what’s new?

One of the crates – weighing 50 kilos! – has been removed and placed carefully in a cool room, which has been specially constructed at Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand. Now, they’ve done this quite clever in a way that allows the public to see first-hand the process as conservators firstly raise the temperature in a controlled process to above freezing point and then defrost the crate to see if we can get a dram or two out of the bottle – but even that will be done by syringe, no uncorking the bottle (at least that’s the plan at the moment).

This is going to be a bit of a time consuming process. You don’t just whack the temperature up by a degree a day, it’s slower than that. Why is it slower than that? To try and preserve as much of the original flavour, look and texture of the whisky instead of just quickly defrosting it and shredding the whisky.

So it’s going to be in there for a while as it comes back to more normal temperatures.

And all of that is just the first step, but we’re being patient here. The whisky has waited for a while so we can wait a little bit longer. Don’t get me wrong I’d love to have my hands on it tomorrow, but patience is a virtue (so they tell me).

So when are you nosing it, when can I buy it, what will happen to the bottles and the crate?

Easy, easy! The first step is to make sure that it thaws OK – and it’s in good hands at the moment so that should take place smoothly – after that it will be a case of getting down there when possible, taking the time to nose it and sample it properly to try and capture as much of the essence as possible.

Then the company will decide what’s to happen, so hold on to your pennies for now – or go buy a bottle of Whyte & Mackay while waiting! If there’s something to go on sale then the odds are that it won’t be this year.

And once we’ve tested, nosed and sampled, the original crate will head back to the ice.

Trust me, I’m as excited as you – if not more so – on this and I really can’t wait. But I have to. We all will.

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Tales of the Cocktail

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook. I’m sure I’ll be posting plenty (where signal and battery life allows) if for no other reason than to torment they guys back in Glasgow on the Whyte & Mackay Twitter and Facebook profiles (I hear the weather’s terrible).

There’s also going to be the hashtag #totc used on Twitter.

The event itself is on Facebook and Twitter.

There’s also some back-up people on Twitter for the event – Mr Cocktail, Mrs Cocktail, Christina, Michelle and Melissa.

If you just want to see the pictures, then hit the likes of Flickr (as well as the Facebook group pictures) here and also with the tag TalesOfTheCocktail.

And there will also be some audio and video material released I’m told. Some details at the bottom of this page.

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Let’s keep entries open until midnight UK time on Thursday. All you have to do is put your two caption ideas in the comments section. The two that are decided to be the funniest or most unusual are the winners. Please note, in the interests of fairness, we won’t pick the same winner for the two captions – whisky is for sharing after all.

Good luck everyone.

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Monday July 19

A quick blogger meet-up and lunch with Kirsten Amann, Catherine Stanton Schiff and Kenneth Kansky at Post 390 and then I’ll be at Davio’s, 75 Arlington Street, Boston in the evening for a trade dinner. Should be fun (as long as the jetlag stays off!)

Tuesday July 20

Easy day until 4pm and then it’s tastings and masterclass galore at Federal W&S and at Omni Parker House. The Omni Parker House one should be good for those who get along as everyone is getting a copy of my book and a bottle of Dalmore 15.

Wednesday July 21

A fond farewell is bid to Boston as I get to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail (did they check who they had invited? Do they put ice in these cocktails?) and I’ll be doing events in and around the Hotel Monteleone. One of the events, starting at 4.30pm, will see me doing a classroom style event with the drinks being poured, the Dalmore 12, 15, 18, Gran Reserva and King Alexander.

Tales of the Cocktail has a huge online presence, I’ll send the details out later for those who can’t make it along.

Thursday July 22

I’m taking the day off. I wish! Starting off at 11am I’ll be doing a book signing in the Hotel Monteleone, then having a chat with Kevin Jenkins of The Chef & the Fat Man fame. But it won’t be too long a chat as I’ll have a plane to catch, getting into Dallas at around 9pm. Someone tell me a decent place to go for a late night drink and cigar!

Friday July 23

I can guarantee I’ll be sweltering from all the running about I’ll be doing as I’ve got a bunch of private events on before a cigar event at Javier’s, 4912 Cole Ave. Dallas.

Saturday July 24

Not much on apart from  a mad dash to the airport to catch another plane and get back to New Orleans (in case they are missing me) and get ready for the Spirited Awards at The Roosevelt Hotel that night.

Sunday, July 25

Sleep. Aye, maybe if you’re another Richard Paterson. More Tales of the Cocktail fun with a presentation on Scotland’s Whisky Legends and Pacult involving myself, F. Paul Pacult and Colin Scott from Chivas. This is actually going to be a cracker as we’re discussing some terrific points about whisky – I’ll do another blog post about it later – and then I’m a guest at an event called Ahead in an Online World which apparently is going to tell us about stuff called Twitter, Facebook, blogs and so on. Never heard of any of it. All I want to know is can I put my whisky glass on the old-fashioned CD tray?

Monday July 26

Travel back to Glasgow. Might sleep, might prepare some notes for an online whisky tasting I’m doing with some guys in Australia on the Wednesday.

Anyway, that’s what I’m officially up to. There’s some spare time in most of the cities, so let me know if there’s anywhere worth popping into. After all, the last time this suggested, I popped into a little company called Twitter…

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Will I get away with another slap? Only time will tell…

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According to Trent, Dalmore was the hit of the event – even though it was more than 100 degrees. The heat wasn’t all around the temperature though as there were people asking about the Dalmore ’74 and 40 year olds with others picking up the King Alexander on their way home.

Sounds like I missed a great time!

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Not only are the lads from Edinburgh Whisky carrying out tastings all night long (every half hour from 8.30pm until 10.30pm) but Whyte & Mackay are donating a bottle of the award-winning 30 year old whisky (tasting notes video below) and there’s a few bottles of Drambuie up for grabs as well.

It’s all for a good cause and should be a great night, I’ll definitely be raising a glass and going SLAINTE to this one from America at some point today.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Good luck to everyone, I hope they raise lots of money.

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