Historic sale

Published 27 Jul 2010 10:00

A RARE bottle of whisky - blended in Dumbarton during the Second World War - is set to go under the hammer.

The Ballantines bottle originally sank with the ship The SS Politician in 1941 - and became the inspiration behind the hit film Whisky Galore!

The SS Politician had set sail for Jamaica with its cargo, which included pianos, motor parts, bedding - and the 28,000 cases of whisky.

However, the ship ran aground in a gale off the Outer Hebrides, near the island of Eriskay.

Luckily, the crew were rescued unharmed and islanders from Eriskay and beyond - starved of whisky by war time rationing - liberated around 24,000 bottles before the authorities caught up with them.

The bottles from The SS Politician were then salvaged by divers in either the 1950s or 1960s.

Now the valuable bottle is to be auctioned off in Edinburgh next month - with a price tag of £1,200 to £1,800.

Experts at Bonhams in Edinburgh say the precious bottle was blended at Ballantine's in Dumbarton either at the end of the 1930s or beginning of the 1940s. Martin Green, a whisky expert, confirmed that the lot was exceptionally rare.

He told the Reporter: "We've only auctioned six bottles at a sale in 1986 and then twenty-four bottles in another sale in 1990, so they are very rare."

Tweet

This article appeared in Dumbarton & Vale of Leven Reporter 27 Jul 10

Follow @dumbartonreport

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.