Cinema-goers will be able to raise a glass of Duncan Taylor’s Whisky Galore malt, when the remake of the film hits the cinemas on May 5.
The much-anticipated launch of the Whisky Galore! film has elevated the Speyside single malt from the Huntly-based company very much back into the limelight.
Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky first introduced Whisky Galore onto the market over 30 years ago. The tasting notes boast of mandarins, darker chocolate coated oranges and almonds and the label naturally depicts a scene from the famous film.
The original film, shot in Barra, was widely regarded as one of Scotland’s most iconic films. Nearly 70 years later it is being brought to a new generation of filmgoers starring Eddie Izzard, James Cosmo, Gregor Fisher and Ellie Kendrick.
The re-make of Whisky Galore!, which has been 10 years in the planning, has been partly filmed in Portsoy. Just a few miles from the HQ of Duncan Taylor in Huntly, Aberdeenshire.
The story of the ship which ran aground off the Hebridean island laden with whisky, is legendary. Based on a real life true story, the original film was released in June 1949 starring Gordon Jackson. The movie and remake are adaptions of Compton Mackenzie’s novel and focusses on the SS Politician which ran aground in Scotland with cargo of 264,000 bottles of malt whisky. The original film showed the ship break up with 800 tons of whisky on-board but the unharmed crew were given shelter by the locals and an operation was carried out to salvage the whisky. With the country in the middle of war-time rationing, boats reportedly came from as far away as Lewis to help ‘liberate’ the cargo. Islanders who looted the wreck of the US-bound ship were famously pursued by local customs officers but most of it was never recovered.
Chairman Euan Shand commented; “I loved the original film and wanted to create a whisky that would celebrate the story. We’re delighted that the tale will be brought back to life this year and we can toast it with our own Whisky Galore brand.”
For more details of the whisky go to www.thewhiskygalore.com or head to www.thespiritsembassy.com to purchase.