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In 1917, while World War I was raging, a ship carrying 50 cases of French cognac and cases of liqueur to Russia through neutral but was sunk by a German U-boat because the cargo was deemed contraband by the captain.
The crew of the Swedish steamer S/S Kyros, were saved, but its cargo went down with the ship just off Åland Island in the Baltic Sea where it remained until last month.
After years of preparation, Swedish salvage hunters Ocean X Team and Icelandic iXplorer teamed up with international vessel Deepsea Worker to retrieve the cases from the sea floor successfully raising the precious cargo that could fetch significant sums of money at auction.
"The importance of this event cannot be overemphasized – it's not only a find of rare cognac and liqueur but also a part of history of the former imperial Russia," said the Ocean X Team in a statement.
The wreck was discovered in 1999 but it had been thought that salvaging the cargo was too dangerous. Using robot technology Ocean X managed to raise 600 bottles of De Haartman & Co cognac and 300 bottles of Benedictine liqueur.
The cognac is no longer in production while Benedictine, created over 500 years ago by monks is now owned by Bacardi.
It is unsure whether the product has been preserved and whether or not it is drinkable but a number of bottles have been sent to Sweden and Moscow for analysis.
Interest in salvaged spirits and wine is huge. This year Cookson Adventures offered people the chance to join a salvage operation to raise 100-year-old wine from a shipwreck.
The most expensive Champagne ever sold is a 1907 Heidsieck Champagne. In 1998, 2,000 bottles were salvaged from a ship that had been torpedoed by German sub during World War I. Since then bottles have been sold at various auctions around the world selling for a top value of $275,000 each.
