WELLINGTON ? Five crates of whisky and brandy belonging to polar explorer Ernest Shackleton have been recovered after being buried for more than 100 years beneath the Antarctic ice, explorers said Friday.

The spirits were excavated from beneath Shackleton's Antarctic hut which was built in 1908.

"To our amazement we found five crates, three labeled as containing whisky and two labeled as containing brandy," said Al Fastier of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust who previously believed there were only two crates there.

"The unexpected find of the brandy crates, one labeled Chas Mackinlay & Co and the other labeled The Hunter Valley Distillery Limited Allandale are a real bonus."

Some of the crates have cracked and ice has formed inside which will make the job of extracting the contents very delicate.

However, Fastier said the trust was confident the crates contained intact alcohol, given that liquid can be heard when they crates are moved.

The smell of whisky in the surrounding ice also indicated full bottles of spirits were inside, albeit that one or more might have broken.

Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, whose company supplied the Mackinlay's whisky for Shackleton, described the find as "a gift from the heavens" for whisky lovers.

"If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analyzed, the original blend may be able to be replicated," he said.

"Given the original recipe no longer exists this may open a door into history."

Shackleton's expedition ran short of supplies on their long trek to the South Pole from Cape Royds in 1907-1909 and they eventually fell about 100 miles (160 kilometers) short of their goal.

No lives were lost, vindicating Shackleton's decision to turn back from the pole, first reached in 1911 by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen.

Shackleton's expedition sailed from Cape Royds hurriedly in March 2009 as winter ice began forming in the sea, forcing them to leave some equipment and supplies ? including the whisky ? behind.

"I personally think they must have been left there by mistake, because it's hard to believe two crates would have been left under the hut without drinking them," Fastier said.