by gillmang » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:17 am
This would sound like an American blended whiskey. This is a product made from grain neutral spirits and/or corn whiskey and/or unaged bourbon mash (green) whiskey blended with straight whiskey (basically bourbon or straight rye), and sometimes flavourings. Imperial, or Seagram 7 Crown, are examples of American whiskey in the market today. (Quality varies quite a bit in this area, I find 7 Crown very good, a quasi-straight rye in fact). The bottles used to state, and still do, the relative amounts of grain neutral spirits (the usual base) and straight whiskey, so if the bottle states this, it is definitely an American Whiskey, i.e., a blend of the type mentioned. If it is in fact a bourbon or straight rye, the label will state this. Next time you are there, check the label and buy a drink perhaps, this should confirm what it is. The name has a vague familiarity, though, and I think it is a blended American Whiskey. The use of a name connected to Ireland and its imagery may have been a way to market to the Irish-American community. There were other domestic liquor products which used a similar approach in that era and into the 1980's.
Gary