Life is full of the most amazing co-incidences. I would not have really paid attention to a recent article in The Times had it not been for our old friend Bernie McGee who dropped by this summer with his wife Beastie — that’s what he calls her! It is one of those Scottish expressions that only they would use. It’s like calling your wife ‘Pet’ instead of ‘Honey’ or ‘Sugar’.
We met Bernie a few years back when he and Beastie came calling to buy our cider, which he had drunk in a local restaurant. In reality, he was intrigued by the Scottish name on the label and wanted to meet us. He told us he had gone to Berlin in his youth to learn German, followed many paths in life and finally became the representative of Glenfarclas whisky in Germany.
Glenfarcas is a w
ell-known Speyside whisky which first hit international headlines by being the first whisky to be sold at cask strength. It was called Glenfarcas 105 which is the British designation for a pure strength whisky. It is in fact a 60% proof by everyone else’s measure. It quickly acquired cult status and Bernie’s German customers love it.
Bernie’s vast knowledge of whiskies has made him very popular with the Germans. He does after dinner speeches for big companies, does whisky presentations and tours. He is a great raconteur and has the Celts’ gift of the Gab. Stories roll off his tongue as from the pen of James Joyce and just as juicy!
This was his latest story and as it turns out it had special resonance in Edinburgh’s auction house, Bonham’s, this August according to The Times.
A local Islay fisherman, John Baker from Bruichladdich (pronounced brookladdie), discovered a large bright yellow, drum-like object floating beneath the waves – a hazard to shipping. To his surprise it was a mini-submarine bristling with hi-tech surveillance equipment and marked ‘Ministry of Defence’.
He craned it out of the water and after close inspection, came to the conclusion that it was some kind of mine detecting robot. On the coastguards’ advice, he alerted the Ministry of Defence who promptly denied all knowledge of such a weapon.
Two weeks later he received a phone call during which, after much humming and hawing, the Ministry admitted that they had alerted the Coastguards to the fact that this ‘non-existent’ mini-sub was missing. The MOD eventually made an appointment for a Royal Navy mine sweeper to come and collect the missing secret weapon discreetly before dawn on 8 September 2005.
Meanwhile the new manager of the Bruichladdich distillery, only recently re-opened in 2001, decided to market his latest whisky as WMD – the Yellow Submarine. He ran off a few hand-painted labels and together with the whole village went down to the port as the sun was rising and cheerfully greeted the Royal Navy boat, offering drams of whisky to all and sundry!
So much for discretion! This whisky proved such a hit that the Navy ordered some for its ships and even the MOD decided to try it out! It is now a cult whisky just like the one being sold at Bonham’s Edinburgh Auction House this August which has a very similar provenance and consequent mystique.
In 1941, the SS Politician set sail (from Glasgow) for Kingston, Jamaica with a cargo which included pianos, motor parts, bedding and 28,000 cases (264,000 bottles) of Ballantine’s whisky. The ship ran aground off the Outer Hebrides near the isle of Eriskay. The crew were rescued unharmed and, over next few weeks, so was some of the whisky.
Twenty four thousand bottles were liberated by local islanders (starved of whisky by wartime rationing) before the Excise men caught up with them. Some looters were fined and some jailed but very few bottles were recovered by the Excise men. They were so angry that they blew up what remained of the hull because they couldn’t bear the idea of all that yellow gold being imbibed and no-one paying taxes! In 1947, Compton MacKenzie wrote Whisky Galore about this incident and the book was made into a well known popular comedy film by Ealing Studios in 1949.
Whisky from the ship rarely appears for sale but one bottle was auctioned at Bonham’s Auction House, Edinburgh towards the end of August this year. The bottle was believed to have been salvaged from the wreck of the SS Politician in the 1950’s and was being sold with photos of the salvage operation. The estimated selling price was £1200-£1800!
So how much did it go for? I scanned The Times every day for news of the price this liquid gold and finally phoned Martin Green of Bonham’s in Edinburgh. The bottle fetched £4200! Well, we shall just have to make do with shots from the bottle of ‘Yellow Submarine’ which Bernie brought us from Bruichladdich. Quelle coincidence!
More info for whisky afficionados…
Watch the video of the story of The Yellow Submarine
www.Bruichladdie.com (pronounced brookladdie —don’t miss the ‘bladdieblog’)
www.Singlemalt.tv
www.Bruichladdie.com pronounce brookladdie (don’t miss the ‘bladdieblog’)
Photo Credits
“The Yellow Submarine” J McLean
“Bernie McGee” courtesy of Bernie McGee website
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