A rare bottle of whisky won by a Dundee poet after being recovered from a famous Scottish shipwreck has fetched nearly £13,000 at auction.
The sum is thought to be a record for a single bottle of Scotch salvaged from the wreck of the SS Politician, which ran aground in 1941 near the island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides.
It was previously won in a poem competition 34 years ago by Donald McLaren, a former DC Thomson journalist who died in 2016.
His daughter put the bottle up for sale in the Grand Whisky Auction and now hopes it will reappear in a museum or another public display.
The story of the ship and the islanders, who removed bottles of whisky under the noses of the authorities, inspired author Compton MacKenzie’s famous 1947 novel Whisky Galore and two subsequent films.
Daughter ‘blown away’ by winning bid
The historic bottle, recovered during a dive in 1987, was given a conservative estimate of £5000-6000.
But a late bidding war between two mystery bidders pushed the price to £12,925 including premiums.
Beau Wallace, director at The Grand Whisky Auction, said: “It was a very exciting end to the auction and everyone at The Grand whisky Auction is pleased to have sold such a rare and special piece of whisky history at a record price.”
Nicola Hastie, 57, from Dundee, whose father passed away aged 78 in 2016 said she had kept the bottle in her “darkest cupboard” for safekeeping before deciding to sell it at auction so that someone else could enjoy it.
She said she was “blown away” when the bidding suddenly took off moments before the 9pm deadline.
Mrs Hastie, who will share the proceeds with brother Andrew, said: “We were both blown away — it was just amazing to see the interest in this bottle of whisky.
“I received an email each time there was a new bid and I literally couldn’t keep up with it. I was in shock but it was lovely.
“I don’t know who bought the whisky but I would love to think it might go on display for people to enjoy, and I can go and visit it in the future.”
Whisky was bound for the Caribbean
The 8000-ton SS Politician was bound for Kingston in Jamaica and New Orleans packed with 28,000 cases of whisky when it ran aground near the island of Eriskay.
The crew were rescued unharmed, and much of the Scotch on board was removed by islanders.
Scots author MacKenzie, when he told the story in his 1947 novel Whisky Galore, re-christened the ship the SS Cabinet Minister and renamed the islands of South Uist and Eriskay as Great and Little Todday.
The tale inspired a 1949 Ealing Comedy starring Gordon Jackson, Joan Greenwood and Basil Radford, remade in 2016 with a cast including Gregor Fisher, Eddie Izzard and James Cosmo.
The bottle was found less than 30 feet below the surface in the remains of the ship’s No. 5 hold, blown up by Customs in 1942 in a bid to prevent looting.
Recovered whisky had ‘sulphur’ smell
Ten intact bottles and two miniatures were recovered during the dive as well as other artefacts including machetes, clay tobacco pipes and vast amounts of paper money that disintegrated on being touched.
Remarkably, one of the bottles was opened after being brought to the surface. The verdict: “A slight smell of sulphur when first uncorked. But the contents are smooth, mellow and still a wonderful taste.”
Mrs Hastie added: “Dad loved writing poetry for his own enjoyment and often entered competitions.
“He was delighted that the judges enjoyed it, and to win a bottle of whisky from the SS Politician just made it even better.
“I may never find out who bought it but it would be lovely on display alongside my dad’s poem, which just makes everybody smile.”
The last bottle of Scotch from the SS Politician to emerge at auction was also sold by The Grand Whisky Auction, in September 2020.
It was salvaged in 1987 by North Sea diver George Currie from Kirkwall in Orkney, and made £9200.