Harkbir 1899

£49.50

The Gurkhas’ Whisky

A highland single malt scotch Whisky produced by The Own Label Company in Scotland for The Gurkha Museum.

40% Vol 70cl.

Please be aware this product will only be sold to those over the age of 18 and ID will be requested before dispatch. At this current time, we can only ship to within the UK.

The Tale of a Scot, a Welshman and a Gurkha.

The year is 1899. It was during a visit to the Isle of Skye that an argument broke out at Sligachan Inn between a Scottish laird, Macleod of Macleod, and Major Charles Bruce of the 5th Gurkha (Rifle) Regiment, resulting in a wager being made.

Macleod did not believe that one of Bruce’s men, Havildar Harkbir Thapa, had run to the top of Glamaig hill and back in an hour and a quarter – a distance  of two miles across open moorland to the foot, and a rise of 2817 feet to the summit.

Bruce awoke Harkbir from his sleep who readily accepted the challenge. Determined to prove himself, he got into his shorts and took off up the hill barefoot. This time, the Gurkha returned within the hour. Reaching the summit in an astounding 37 minutes, he took just a further 18 to return to the inn without fatigue, knocking 20 minutes off his previous time.

Many athletes have since tried to beat this time, but it took a professional fell runner in running shoes, nearly a hundred years later, to shave five minutes off the time set in 1899.

It is not known what Bruce drank to celebrate winning the bet, but we imagine it must have tasted as good as this whisky.

ONLY AVAILABLE TO SHIP WITHIN THE UK