Davy Jones’ Drinks Cabinet

Three boatloads of Irish trawlermen were celebrating an unexpected catch when they netted dozens of gift packs of Carolans.

Picture the scene, you’re trawling for prawns off the Welsh coast and thinking to yourself, “Hmm, I could just fancy a drop of Irish cream liqueur,” when suddenly you spot something decidedly un-shrimplike in your net.

Three boatloads of Irish trawlermen were celebrating an unexpected catch last month when they netted dozens of gift packs of Carolans. The fishermen were in an area known as The Smalls just off the Pembrokeshire coast when they were somewhat surprised to dredge up the gift packs.

The bottles were found in good condition but the labels had been washed away so the fishermen sought the help of their local pub landlord who confirmed that the mystery bottles were Carolans. Brand owner C&C International later explained that the bottles had been among 8,000 that were lost en route to Spain when a 40ft container was lost in a storm.  db January 2006