Auction Nets Hefty Haul for Hidden Hooch

Bottle found behind trap-door may have been
stashed away during U.S. Prohibition Era

A bottle of whiskey that was found hidden behind a trap-door sold for a hefty sum at auction today, according to the BBC. The bottle was for a brand called Viking Scotch Whisky (as the word is spelled across the pond) that was distilled by the Glencamden Company. It was discovered behind a trap-door inside a home in Washington State in the 1950s and is believed to have been stashed there in the 1920s during America's Prohibition Era, when the sale of alcohol was banned throughout the country.

An anonymous buyer paid 3,240 pounds (approx. $6,475 U.S.) for the bottle, which the U.K.'s The Courier reports to be single malt from the turn of the last century. The seller found it over 50 years ago while renovating a home. Since being discovered, the bottle was stored in Sweden where the seller now resides.

More from The Courier:

Whisky consultant for Bonhams auction house Martin Green described the bottle of Old Pot Still Scotch Viking (Glencadam) as "one of the rarest early 20th century malt whiskies to appear at auction in recent years."

He said, "It's an amazing story.

"While it is impossible to establish how it got to the United States, it may have been an export brand at that time.

"It's a very desirable product and one that any whisky producer would be glad to own…It is possible the bottle is the only one of its kind in existence."

The condition of the labelling is very good considering its age and the whisky level was on the shoulder which means a little evaporation had taken place, quite common for bottles with a driven cork and of that age.

The new owner is highly unlikely to want to drink the contents.

The Glencadam Distillery is near Brechin, Angus in Scotland.