Two bottles of single malt whisky, which were salvaged from the shipwrecked SS Politician off the coast of Eriskay, an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland are to auction online on May 5.
The collector's items were among 264,000 bottles of whisky aboard the ill-fated ship, whose wreckage would inspire Whisky Galore - a 1947 novel by Compton Macenzie, turned into a film in 1949.
 The two bottles previously sold at Christie's and are offered complete with their Christie's neck tags |
Bill Mackintosh, director of Scotch Whisky Auctions, the auction house overseeing the sale, commented: "Everybody loves the idea of wily islanders diving to the bottom of the wreck and coming back up with bottles of whisky which they would then hide from customs."
Mackintosh went on to explain how only eight bottles have been authenticated recently.
The present pair are two of those eight, which previously sold at Christie's for a combined £4,000 ($6,180).
The present bottles were bought by a man living in Aberdeenshire. Having recently died, his widow has decided to sell the whisky along with their Christie's neck tags and letters of authentication.
The eight bottles originally surfaced in 1987. Local man, Douglas MacPhee from South Uist, discovered the bottles when he swam out to the wreck and explored its contents.
Although it is very likely that the whisky is undrinkable, Mackintosh asserted: "This lot of two bottles is incredibly scarce and provides a rare opportunity to obtain a real piece of Scottish history."
The two bottles, offered in a single lot, have a conservative estimate of £2,000 ($3,092).
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