This Whiskey Shipwreck

DURING A STORMY NIGHT IN 1878, A three-masted schooner called the James R. Bentley struck a shoal and sank to the bottom of Lake Huron on a Chicagoto-Buffalo voyage. Although the crew was rescued, the ship and its precious cargo went into the 39°F water.

- T.N.

That cargo? Rye seeds, of a variety that no longer exists.

Now, a team of researchers and distillers, led by experts from Michigan State University (MSU), have an intricate plan to give that rye new life— specifically in the form of whiskey.

This rye-to-whiskey story picked up steam in September 2024, when divers took the 160-footdeep dive to the Bentley to recover the lost rye. Even finding the seeds intact was “like winning a million-dollar jackpot,” Eric Olson, an MSU associate professor who worked on the project, said in a statement.

Once extracted from the wreck, the rye seeds were placed in tubes and put on ice. The team then just had to wait and hope exposure to oxygen and warmer temperatures wouldn't end their hopes for germination.