Irish Whiskey

Thanks for the insight, mollydingle. Here's my practical story...

An dear uncle of mine, whom my dad referred to as "a professional Irishman," was visiting me one day in my early adulthood. I planned dinner and drinks at my pad. Well, really, drinks and dinner. Not knowing Irish Whiskey, I had gotten a fifth of Bushmill's to serve. 

When I brought the bottle out, my uncle looked upon it for a very long moment; looked then at me, and said: "Jimmy boy, you don't serve an Irish Catholic a Prod whiskey." I was flabbergasted! And speechless. After another long, perhaps, theatrical pause, my uncle said, "let's have a taste, then." Lesson learned.

Roy

There is a product out there called "The Knot" which is bottled by the Knot Irish Spirits Co in Bailieboro County Cavan Ireland according to the label.  It is 100 proof so it packs a punch and according to it's internet ads, it is supposed to be drunk straight from a shot glass only.  Knot cocktail is one part Knot, one part shot glass.
It doesn't claim to be Irish Whiskey so I really don't know what you would call it.....it is definitely different.  It has a strong vanilla or butterscotch aroma and flavor which I find sickeningly sweet.

So the prevailing argument that I've been having with a lot of people at a local pub has been that The Knot is, indeed, a liqueur and not a whisky (Irish spelling, mind you).

Support for my contention:
1. no place on the bottle of The Knot does it claim to be a whisky/whiskey, Irish or otherwise.  It does, however, state "... Irish Spirits ...".
2. various blogs on the 'net by whisky/whiskey connoisseurs also decry The Knot as 'definitely not' a whisky/whiskey.

The biggest problem I see is every darned online liquor site has The Knot billed under its Irish Whisky or Whiskey section, and state the product as being such.

In my thinking, all one has to do is try The Knot to know that it is definitely NOT a whisky/whiskey.  It's far too sweet with too many flavorings ... more like Southern Comfort. If it has any added sugars or other flavorings, then by definition it cannot be considered whisky/whiskey (making it a liqueur).

Thoughts?  Contentions? Ideas?

It would be a whiskey liquer, similar to Irish Mist which sometimes gets lumped in with Irish whiskey too!