SCOTLAND. 2012. Balla, Isle of Eriskay, Outer Hebrides. Eriskay holds much history, including a famed sea wreck that occurred in 1941 when the SS Politician ran aground off the coast of Balla. The vessel, it turns out, was carrying thousands of bottles of whisky. As chronicled in the novel Whisky Galore, later adapted into a film of the same name, the local seafaring community set sail to salvage the whisky from the sinking ship. After bringing the bottles ashore over numerous trips, the fishermen distributed the precious cargo using the indigenous Eriskay ponies — a hardy breed whose population hovers at a meagre 400 today — and residents hid the bottles before excise men could find them. One such bottle is displayed behind the bar at the Am Politician lounge in Balla.