This Bottle of Mystery Whisky Found in The Walls of an Abandoned Home Could Close a Century-Old Cold Case

A mystery bottle of whisky found within the walls of an abandoned home could be the key to solving a century-old counterfeit booze case. (Photo: Press Association via AP Images)

On Wednesday, Newsweek reported that a bottle of mystery whisky found within the walls of a home in Dublin, Ireland, could possibly be linked to a 100-year-old counterfeit booze case that appears to be unsolved.

The mysterious bottle marked with the name “Patrick O’Reilly” in elegant-looking script on the weathered label was found by a man who renovated an abandoned home in Dublin during the late 1970s.

The mysterious whisky bottle found in the walls of an abandoned home in the 1970s has resurfaced, and a family is looking for answers. (Photo: Reddit/MildlyInteresting)

For decades, the bottle remained in possession of the family, though nobody thought much about looking into the origins of the mystery whisky bottle.

Cody La Rue, a Michigan native who married into the family, recently found the bottle — which was discovered by his father-in-law. After his father-in-law’s mother passed, LaRue and the family rediscovered it while cleaning out the house.

La Rue took to the MildlyInteresting forum on Reddit and posted a photo of the bottle, which read “Very old malt whisky,” and the name “Patrick O’Reilly, Bride Street, Dublin,” on the bottle.

Armchair Reddit sleuths took to the internet to offer up their theories about the history of the bottle.

Newsweek reported that one Redditor, named 98theredballoon, found an article dating back to 1906 from The Evening Irish Times. The article reported that one man, a pub owner named Patrick O’Rielly, was facing criminal charges for allegations of selling counterfeit beer.

Could this be the same Patrick O’Reilly whose name was on the bottle of the mystery whisky found in the abandoned home? And if so, what did that mean? Was this bottle potentially a century-old example of counterfeit booze?

“I was very interested to see the response from 98theredballoon showing someone with the same name and address who was taken to court for selling counterfeit bass beer,” La Rue said in a statement reported by Newsweek.

The man accused of counterfeit beer production resided at 101 Bride Street. Interestingly enough, another man coincidentally named Patrick O’Reilly who resided at 104 Bride Street wrote the Irish Evening Times that he was not related to the accused.

Somehow, the counterfeit beer case was never solved. Newsweek reports that the bottle could be the link to solving this century-old crime, and it appears the family is considering visiting a whisky museum in Dublin to seek professional assistance on the matter.

A Redditor, by the name of jonwilliamsl, commented that the bottle appeared to date back to somewhere between 1875 and 1910 based on the “paper, printing method and typography.”

“If it’s a Macallan 1926 you’re $2.7 M richer,” one user quipped.

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