W & A Gilbey Bottle From The Wreck Of The SS Politician - with Letter, Copy of Magazine Article & USB of News Footage

Whisky lovers and fans of history alike are bound to recognise the legendary tale of the wreckage of the SS Politician and how this came to be one of the most remembered and culturally significant events within the Western Isles and Scotland. For those who have been living under a crag, the event is of course what would later inspire the novel and subsequent film Whisky Galore, written by Compton MacKenzie and directed by Giles MacKinnon respectively.

The SS Politician was carrying some very precious cargo, including (most importantly) 260,000 bottles of whisky when on the 5th February 1941 it ran into some bad weather on the journey from Liverpool to Kingston, Jamaica and New Orleans. With Captain Beaconsfield Worthington deciding to alter the course of the ship after passing The Isle of Man, disaster struck just off the coast of The Isle of Eriskay when the ship ran aground and began to take on the cold waters of the Atlantic. After locals rescued the ship's crew and upon discovering what they carried… a rescue mission of another kind took place! In the months and years that followed officials would try without much success to locate and punish the ‘thieves’ but the whereabouts of a majority of the bottles remained a mystery, leaving any surviving bottles to be irreplaceably rare.

Here we have a very special bottle from the wreckage of the SS Politician all those years ago. It is an extra special lot as it was discovered by diver Robert Pitblado who was commissioned to explore the wreckage in 1980 and decided to seal the bottle in order to prevent the fill level dropping further. In addition, this lot includes a letter from Mr Pitblado who discovered the gem as well as a USB stick containing a variety of national news footage from the time, forming a first hand account of this divers prolonged interest in the legendary event. It is certainly a unique and highly unusual piece that would be a once in a lifetime addition to any collection.

No ABV Stated / No Volume Stated

Please note this whisky is not fit for consumption.

Please note some wax seals are prone to cracking in varying temperatures and transport conditions, therefore - as stated in our terms and conditions - we do not accept liability should these seals be found to show signs of splitting on delivery.

Please examine all images of the lot, any packaging and labels carefully and satisfy yourself as to their condition before making a bid.