An Evening of Whisky Galore
by Dario Di Sotto
“On the evening of the thirteenth of September, the Monte Carlo Whisky Society was honoured to host a special presentation of “Whisky Galore” given by Keith Hewitt, the world expert and historian of the famous SS Politician which ran aground off the island of Eriskay in 1941. Keith is also a passionate collector of rare single malt whisky with an extensive collection of rare and vintage bottles.
The evening commenced with a reception in the Whisky in Crystal Bar of the Hotel Hermitage, where members and guests tasted a specially blended and privately labelled Private Stock Scotch whisky for the Society by the Adelphi Distillery.
This was then followed by a delightful and amusing presentation given by Keith on the background and true story of “Whisky Galore”. During the presentation, Keith invited us to taste the delicious Glendronach (Speyside) 18 year old cask-strength sherry single cask malt. The exclusivity of this whisky is that bottles are hand-filled and only available at the distillery.
Once we were suitably “lubricated”, the evening continued with a private showing of the 1949 Ealing comedy film adaptation of Sir Compton Mackenzie’s iconic book.
At a significant point in the film, which Keith describes as “the chase”, there was a brief interlude for us to taste another of Keith’s fantastic whisky selection. This was the Kilchoman (Islay) cask-strength Sherry single cask whisky, an expression which is no longer available. It won the Bronze Medal at the Whisky Fringe Festival in Edinburgh this year. It is a very exclusive whisky from Islay’s new farm distillery.
Finally, we were privileged to view Keith’s amazing collection of SS Politician memorabilia, which he so kindly brought all the way from Scotland. His prized exhibit being an original bottle salvaged from the SS Politician.
This was a thoroughly fun and enjoyable evening, and one I hope we can repeat in the not too distant future.”