Couple Finds More Than 66 Bottles of Prohibition-Era Whiskey in New York Home
Nick Drummond/Instagram
A New York couple didn't believe that their century-old home was built by a legendary bootlegger until they decided to undergo renovations last month.
Nick Drummond and Patrick Bakker were shocked to discover that hiding in the walls and floorboards of their house in the village of Ames, about three hours away from New York City, was more than 66 bottles of smuggled Prohibition-era whiskey, according to CNN.
Two months ago, the couple decided to begin major renovations on their home, which was built in 1915 by a German man known as Count Adolph Humpfner.
Drummond told CNN he was removing outside skirting along the bottom of the mudroom when a package fell out.
"I'm like what is that? I'm very confused," he told the outlet. "I'm looking and there's hay everywhere, there's paper, and glass ... I see another package and it's this 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."
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After finding the first package of whiskey, he went on to discover several other smuggled packages under a hatch inside the floor. Drummond said that each bottle was wrapped in tissue paper and straw and came in packages of six.
"Initially we found seven bundles of six in the wall and then at that point we found four more bundles and actually funny enough as of less than a week ago we just found more," added Drummond, a designer and historic preservationist.
According to the label on the bottle, the liquor is a brand of Scottish whiskey called Old Smuggler Gaelic, which is still in distribution today.
Since discovering the bottles, Drummond has continued to document his findings on social media.
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"Our walls are filled with bundles of booze! I can't believe the rumors are true! He was actually a bootlegger!" he wrote on one of his posts.
Drummond said he has done a lot of research on the man who built his home and found out that Humpfner was under numerous investigations and died a suspicious death.
The couple plans to keep one of the full bottles of whiskey to taste for themselves and sell the other full bottles, which are estimated to sell for $1,000 each, Drummond said.
Drummond and Bakker will keep the empty or evaporated bottles preserved in their home.
