A New York couple found 66 bottles of Prohibition-era whiskey in the walls and floorboards of their century-old home that was reportedly built by a bootlegger, CNN reported.
Nick Drummond and Patrick Bakker discovered the Scottish whiskey labeled “Old Smuggler Gaelic” in their Ames home, roughly three hours from New York City. While Drummond was removing outside skirting in a room attached to the house in October, an unknown package fell out.
When a New York couple was told their over 100-year-old home was built by a notorious bootlegger, they passed it off as small-town legend.
But they found more than 66 bottles of whiskey from the Prohibition era hidden within the walls and floorboards. https://t.co/2CR7HkxT1x
— CNN (@CNN) November 26, 2020
The original owner of the home, Count Adolph Humpfner, was reportedly involved in numerous scandals throughout the town and left behind the smuggled alcohol and a disputed fortune, Drummond said, after sifting through newspapers and legal websites. (RELATED: Was Prohibition Repealed?)
He said there was hay, paper and glass that fell out, and then in another package, a whiskey bottle. “I’m like holy crap. This is like a whiskey stash. And this is like, all of a sudden, the whole story of the bootlegger,” he said, according to CNN.
In the same room, more packages were hiding under the floorboards, and each bottle was wrapped in tissue paper and straw. They found 7 bundles of 6 bottles each in the wall, but kept finding more. They plan to sell the bottles they found full, which are valued at around $1,000 each, Drummond told CNN. They’ll keep the empty or evaporated bottles in the home, and will taste test one of the full bottles themselves.
During Prohibition, the sale of most alcohol was banned between 1920 and 1933, but led to illegal, underground production and distribution of alcohol. Mob bosses dominated the industry, as police kept busy by raiding speakeasies and bootlegging operations.
Americans went to significant lengths to flout the law, hiding booze inside hollow walking canes and strapping tins filled with alcohol under dresses.