La Alazana Distillery in Argentina has unveiled the world’s first single malt matured in Antarctica in partnership with new world whisky bottler Cask World.
The whisky, known as Isla Marambio, was bottled at La Alazana Distillery in Chubut Province, Argentina, and will probably be a part of Cask World’s ‘8 Continent Sequence’, which is slated to be the world’s first assortment of whiskies matured on all seven continents when it’s launched in 2026.
The collection will even embody whiskies from India, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, and Wales.
Isla Marambio is an eight-year-old Antarctica-matured Argentinian single malt whisky that was distilled and initially matured for 5 years in virgin oak casks at La Alazana Distillery – a pioneering producer of South American single malt whiskies that focuses on small-scale manufacturing in Patagonia’s distinctive local weather.
It was then transferred into ex-Bourbon casks and saved for 3 years at Base Marambio – an Argentine analysis station on Seymour Island – below excessive Antarctic situations.
Housed in an uninsulated hut and uncovered to temperatures starting from –35°C to 10°C, the casks skilled dramatic environmental variation.
Throughout maturation, the skin of the casks developed a frost coating, a visual signal of the extraordinary chilly and fluctuating Antarctic local weather that formed the whisky’s distinctive ageing course of.
The casks had been then returned to Argentina for bottling.
Lila Serenelli, co-founder and distiller at La Alazana, mentioned: “We already realize it’s completely different. After I was decanting it there was a really particular floral notice that isn’t so robust in our whisky normally. There’s one thing that I feel has occurred. I can’t guarantee it, nevertheless it’s a thought… though there are temperature variations, the mid temperatures are typically below zero. This motion permits extraction and oxidation, however holds the ethanol in, and reduces evaporation. We’ll have higher perception once we measure the ABV of the vatted whisky.”
Talking of the whisky’s ageing location, she added: “I can say that it’s very chilly, very far, extraordinarily huge and it’s so far-off that it’s surprising. After I was standing there, staring on the frozen sea, I simply obtained this aching in my coronary heart that pulled tears from my eyes and I simply knew that our whisky spent three complete years there and that was simply it.”
Daniel Monk, founding father of Cask World and creator of the 8 Continent Sequence, mentioned: “It made excellent sense to work on this challenge with [co-founders] Néstor and Lila Serenelli in Patagonia. They’re pioneers who, like me, imagine in doing one thing that’s by no means been carried out earlier than. I used to be of their backyard in Argentina after I shared the concept of maturing whisky in Antarctica – they didn’t hesitate. They’re the heroes who made it doable, overcoming each problem to make the Antarctic maturation a actuality.
“Collectively we made historical past by sending casks of La Alazana whisky to Base Marambio, the place they had been matured on the Antarctic continent. For me, Antarctica isn’t only a frontier — it’s an emblem of purity, endurance, and steadiness.
“This assortment I’m pulling collectively – the 8 Continent Sequence – will probably be greater than a set of whiskies; it is going to be the story of the world instructed by means of flavour, local weather, and collaboration.
“For me, the dream of maturing whisky on each continent isn’t nearly whisky – it’s about what it represents: the spirit of exploration, connection, and pushing the bounds of what’s doable. My life has at all times been about daring issues most would name inconceivable – from biking throughout continents to overcoming dependancy, crusing the Atlantic circuit with my kids, and constructing a whisky enterprise that connects folks and locations.
“After I found so many nations making whisky few had ever heard of, I felt compelled to go to the distilleries and meet the folks behind them. From that second, I knew it was new world whiskies I needed to give attention to and to shine a light-weight on this outstanding interval of development and creativity.”
The challenge was carried out with the assist of the Argentine Ministry of Defence and armed forces, who facilitated transport of the casks each to and from Antarctica, aboard a Lockheed C-130 Hercules plane between Buenos Aires, Río Gallegos, and Base Marambio.
Monk beforehand produced The Intrepid Whisky, the world’s largest bottle of whisky.
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