This miniature whisky bottle was found in the wall of the barn situated behind the Catherine Wheel Public House, Goring on Thames, during repairs to the building in the spring of 2008.
The bottle once contained 'Special Old Highland Whisky', made by John Walker & Sons of Kilmarnock, the forerunners of the modern Johnnie Walker company, now owned by Diageo. The modern equivalent to 'Special Old Highland' is Johnnie Walker Red Label.
'Special Old Highland Whisky' was produced by John Walker & Sons in the years between 1906 and 1908 when Walker's Kilmarnock Whiskies were renamed to Johnnie Walker Whisky. At this time, the Catherine Wheel was a beer house (licensed to sell only beer) and was run by Fred Hawkins.
John Walker & Sons introduced the characteristic square bottle, with its label applied at 24 degrees, in 1870. This particular bottle was originally corked and sealed. The ring at the top of the bottle is actually a miniature corkscrew used to open the bottle, as a conventional wine corkscrew would not fit the neck of the bottle.
Why the bottle came to be deposited in the wall of the barn, undiscovered for 100 years, and who enjoyed the whisky it contained, are mysteries that remain unsolved.
