ADVENTURES IN WHISKY
Treasure trove
A road-trip adventure has turned into a whisky treasure hunt after Kwabena Peprah and his friends were faced with a dilemma as they were about to drive from Iraq into Kuwait. What to do with their haul of Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottles? The answer, as Richard Goslan found out, was to bury their precious cargo in the desert, and save the GPS co-ordinates
ABOVE: One of the Ghana team’s vehicles
Crossing an international border can be a tricky affair. And crossing the border between Iraq and Kuwait can be even trickier – especially when your cargo includes several bottles of SMWS whisky.
That was the situation that Kwabena Peprah and his travelling companions found themselves in on their epic 30,000 kilometre road trip across 30 countries in 2024.
The journey was by Wanderlust Ghana Expedition Club, a not-for-profit company which undertakes epic driving adventures to promote tourism in Ghana.
“It all began with the passion to drive and explore, and when Covid kept us in country, we used the opportunity to drive all over Ghana, exploring every corner,” says Kwabena. “To date, we have driven round our country over 20 times. Then in 2023 we undertook a drive from Accra to London through 10 countries and covering approximately 10,000km, to raise funds for the British charity Eduspots, which is involved in changing the face of digital education in Ghana.”
The adventures continued in 2024 with another drive through Africa, Europe, the Middle East and back into Africa. This time, Kwabena’s London-based friend Joseph Ebe Arthur met up with the team in Berlin and came bearing gifts – six bottles of Society whisky for the remainder of the journey.
ABOVE: The team’s 10,000km expedition arrives in London
“We have been drinkers of your whiskies for a while now, it’s our go-to tipple when we are in the UK or whenever Joseph visits Ghana. But because we were driving, we couldn’t consume them all,” says Kwabena. “We travelled from Baghdad to Basra in Iraq and were approaching the Kuwaiti border when one of our team members discovered that it was a criminal offence to enter Kuwait with alcohol. So unfortunately we had to ditch the whiskies a few kilometres from the border.”
The four remaining bottles of Society whiskies received a proper send off, however. Kwabena and the team found a spot to bury them in the desert and made a careful note of exactly where they were.
“We drove off the road and made a little shrine out of the bottles,” says Kwabena.
“Our chief priest prayed over them and we performed a ceremony to bury them. Then we made a note of the GPS coordinates.”
Kwabena and the team made it safely into Kuwait, minus their precious Society stash of whisky. But one person’s loss could be another one’s gain – so if you ever find yourself in the desert outside Basrah…it could be time to start digging. You might just unearth a bottle of 19-year-old Cask No. 5.115: Cocoa and kiwi, along with the other buried treasure. But you’d better be quick – Kwabena says he is already planning a new trip from the Middle East to China and then back to Ghana, including a stop in Iraq to see if they can dig up their Society bottles.
Interested in tracking down the Society’s hidden treasure? Here’s where it’s located
