IT IS the whisky that could rake in money galore.
A rare bottle of Scotch salvaged from the ship which inspired one of the bestloved and most famous texts in Scottish literature is set to fetch more than £10,000 at auction -- despite being “not suitable for human consumption”.
It was legally recovered from the SS Politician 46 years after the vessel foundered off the island of Eriskay during a gale in 1941.
The 8,000-ton cargo ship was packed with 28,000 cases of whisky -- around 264,000 bottles -- bound for Kingston in Jamaica and New Orleans.
The story of how islanders “salvaged” bottles was immortalised by Compton Mackenzie in his classic 1947 novel Whisky Galore!, which later inspired two movies of the same name.
Now a wax-sealed bottle, brought to the surface in 1987, is among the highlights of the Grand Whisky Auction’s online sale, which runs until July 13.
The bottle was recovered by George Currie, a diver from Orkney, who was working on a subsea cable repair from South Uist to Eriskay when his team located the wreck.
Mr Currie has now decided to sell the artefact, along with a diving helmet from the era, a Whisky Galore! movie poster and bricks recovered from the sunken ship. Bids for the bottle have already hit the £8,500 mark, with nearly a week to run on the online auction.
Commenting, Beau Wallace, who is director at the Grand Whisky Auction, described the sale as “a chance to own a piece of whisky history”.
He added: “The important thing is the provenance of this bottle, which is being sold by George Currie, the diver who recovered it in 1987.
“We are so excited that we are the ones to put it to auction first.
“It’s a hugely special bottle so we are expecting interest from bidders around the globe.”
The SS Politician is one of history’s most famous -- and celebrated -- shipwrecks.
It was carrying a wide range of goods, from cotton and medicines to biscuits and 290,000 10-shilling notes which were later presented, water-damaged, at bank branches across Britain.
But the vessel is best known for its cargo of Scotch, much of which was “salvaged” by the island’s thirsty inhabitants.
People reportedly came from as far afield as Lewis after the Politician got into difficulty on the unseen and treacherous sandbanks off Rosinish Point on the Isle of Eriskay.
And, according to accounts at the time, few if any considered what they were doing to be theft.
But the situation led to the No. 5 hold – where precious whiskies including Gilbey’s, Ballantine’s, VAT 69 and others were stored – being blown up by Customs & Excise officials in a bid to put the drink beyond temptation.
The story was immortalised by Scots author MacKenzie in 1947 – although he re-christened the ship the SS Cabinet Minister and renamed the islands of South Uist and Eriskay as Great and Little Todday.
MacKenzie’s novel also inspired a popular 1949 Ealing Comedy starring Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson.
The film marked the directorial debut of Alexander Mackendrick, an American-Scottish director and teacher who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and whose parents were from Glasgow.
Mackendrick went on to spend three years at the Glasgow School of Art.
The film was re-made in 2016 with a cast including Gregor Fisher, Eddie Izzard, Sean Biggerstaff, Naomi Battrick and James Cosmo.
The book has also been adapted for the stage and performed in theatres across Scotland.
Among the productions was a Gaelic language adaptation of the novel by Iain Finlay MacLeod which was called Uisge-Beatha Gu Leòr.
Decades after the islanders’ famous exploits, some more of the bottles were brought to the surface by professional divers.
Mr Currie, whose team also posed for photographs with bottles they had found, said: “As you can see with the smile on our faces, it was a great day’s diving.”
He added: “It’s been 33 years now so it’s time to let this bottle go, and let somebody else get the benefit.”
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