Whisky Galore again: Eriskay pub ready to welcome back locals and tourists after lockdown

Co-owners Julia and Stephen Campbell, behind the bar of the Am Politician on Eriskay

It is the Whisky Galore pub but Covid almost ensured it was whisky no more at the Am Politician in the Outer Hebrides.

Looking over the beach on the island of Eriskay where the stricken SS Politician’s cargo of amber treasure was collected by islanders in 1941 to inspire the famous novel and movies, the pub has two bottles from the 28,000 cases of malt on the ship when it ran aground.

Bottles from the cargo can fetch £10,000 but the owners of Am Politician have never considered selling their pieces of history – not even to keep their business afloat.

Julia Campbell, 33, who owns the pub with her fiancé Stephen Campbell and their business partner Angus MacAlister, 37, a seaman, said: “We took the Am Politician on two years ago and made sure the whisky came with it.

“It’s been a success. We rely mostly on tourists. In summer we were doing 120 covers a day of food, plus drinkers in the afternoon.

“When coronavirus struck we didn’t think it would affect us badly as we were on the island. But we were the same as everyone else and had to close. We had been hoping we would be allowed to open earlier than everyone else as there hasn’t been a case of the illness on the island but we weren’t. If we had got to October without opening I don’t know if we would have survived.

“But we knew that no matter how hard things got we would never sell the whisky – a bottle of Spey Royal, and a bottle of King’s Ransom. We also have a machete and flare gun from the wreck which just adds to the story.”

Stephen admitted there was nervousness among islanders that the virus could spread there, but he added: “If people are sensible and stick to the safety guidelines there is no reason we can’t stay safe. We need the tourists. We want them to come.”

And their determination was applauded by 91-year-old Mairi MacInnes who lives on the island and was just 12 when her father, Norman MacInnes, was among the first to board the ship as she began to sink in heavy weather after leaving Liverpool in February 1941, bound for the Caribbean.

Great-grandmother Mrs MacInnes, a retired teacher, said: “The bottles are part of this island’s precious history and should stay here. Am Politician’s owners have done well to hold on to them.”

And remembering the frenzy to offload the whisky after wartime rationing left islanders dry, she said: “There was so much of it everyone shared it around. Every family had at least one rowboat to go and get some.”

When asked where her father chose to hide his bounty from customs officials, she said: “Do you think he would tell the children? I never saw it, let alone drank any.”

She can see the bottles tomorrow when The Am Politician throws open its doors again with social distancing in place.