Eilish McColgan was given a £500 surprise bottle of anniversary Aberfeldy whisky after gifting a bottle to a sponsor in Japan.
The Dundee athlete had bought a bottle of Aberfeldy’s 16-year-old Scotch for the chief executive of shoe brand Asics.
It is unclear whether the surprise was sent by Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery or a mystery resident of the Perthshire town.
The Christmas gift – a 125th-anniversary bottle of a 25-year-old whisky – sells for £500 on the distillery’s website.
Dundee athlete gifted Aberfeldy whisky to Asics CEO in Japan
In a video on Instagram, runner Eilish said: “So this is the real power of social media.
“I took a bottle of Aberfeldy whisky, a 16-year-old, over to Japan to gift the CEO of Asics because I wanted to have something that was Scottish and relatively local to where I live.
“He absolutely loved it.
“However, somebody very eagle-eyed from Aberfeldy actually saw it on my Instagram and he very kindly sent this in the mail.
“How amazing.”
Eilish has been sponsored by Asics since 2019, with the brand having sponsored her mum, Liz Nuttall (née Lynch, formerly McColgan), to her first world title in 1991.
The long-distance runners are two of Scotland’s greatest-ever athletes.
Dundee hero Eilish hopes to keep whisky gift ‘forever and ever’
Eilish added that family members were already eyeing up the commemorative bottle.
She said: “My dad has already tried dibs on this, as has the rest of the family so it is going to go down an absolute treat.
“It is so pretty though, I actually don’t want them to open it.
“I feel like it is one of these things I will just keep in my house forever and ever, it is that special.
“Thank you very much Aberfeldy for your very kind Christmas gift.”
Eilish visited Japan earlier this year to spend time with the Asics team in Kobe, on Osaka Bay.
As well as the whisky, she travelled with more Scottish treats including Tunnock’s tea cakes and caramel logs.
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