Approximately $102,000 worth of vintage whiskey was consumed by one Pennsylvania man after he discovered the brew under the stairs of his rented apartment.
John Saunders rented the space from homeowner Patricia Hill. She discovered the whiskey while doing renovations to the house she purchased back in 1986. Hill believes the whiskey was buried in the basement during the Prohibition era.
Now a large portion of that historical drink is gone. Although Hill started out with around 100 bottles, 48 are now lost forever.
Hill’s 60-year-old tenant has been charged with drinking $102,000 worth of the whiskey she discovered buried in her basement. Saunders told police that he only moved the crate around while he was cleaning. He initially denied drinking the whiskey and removing some of the labels.
Hill said she was “sick” about the situation. When she asked Saunders what happened to the vintage whiskey, he told her it probably evaporated. Hill then contacted police.
Chief Barry Pritts said Saunders also denied drinking the vintage rye whiskey . He told police that the vintage liquor was “no good” since it was so old. In order to get to the bottom of the situation, authorities got a search warrant for Saunders’ DNA.
After conducting a series of lab tests, authorities discovered that Saunders’ saliva was on at least three bottles of the $102,000 whiskey. He now faces criminal charges in the matter.
It’s believed that the pure rye whiskey was delivered to industrialist J.P. Brennan back in 1917. The drink was distilled in 1913. However, Brennan decided to bury the whiskey once Prohibition made it illegal to possess alcoholic beverages.
Old Farm Pure Rye was produced by West Overton Distillery. Since the whiskey is so rare, it’s believed the cases had a total value of around $102,400. Hill is looking to recover the full value of the historical drink.
What do you think about the man who consumed $102,00 worth of vintage whiskey?
[Images via Shutterstock.com ]
