By John McKechnie AO, KC
This is a story of Irish whiskey. You can tell that because of the ‘e’. In the 19th Century, the Irish added the ‘e’ to differentiate themselves from what they viewed as the inferior Scottish Whisky. (The Scots of course have a different version). Anyway, this is about Irish whiskey with an e, and lest there be any doubt, Shamrock whiskey.
The families of Kirker and Greer were both whiskey blenders and merchants who merged their businesses in the middle of the 19th century. One of their products was Shamrock Whiskey, advertisements for which appeared in The Bulletin, a Sydney paper, as early as 1883.
In 1886 Kirker, Greer & Co became one of the founders of the Irish Distillery Ltd at Connswater in Belfast. It became one of the largest distilleries in the world and at its peak, distilled over two million gallons of whiskey a year. One of its products was of course Shamrock whiskey.
Now Kirker, Greer & Co exported two kinds of Shamrock Whiskey to Australia. Seven eighths of their product was bottled by them in Belfast and sold in Sydney town for five shillings a bottle. But one eighth was cask whiskey, judged slightly inferior. This was bottled by others in Sydney and sold for four shillings and sixpence.
One bottler of the cask whiskey was Benjamin Neville Mayman, known as Neville. He arrived in Sydney as a young man of 25 to manage a weighing machine company but soon became a publican. He married in 1896 and was a keen amateur thespian. In 1898, he purchased the Brighton Hotel in Oxford Street, spent 3000 pounds on improvements converting it into what was described as the handsomest and most striking hostelries in the city. Although he was Chair of the Benevolent Society, his benevolence didn’t prevent him from accusing the Salvation Army of creating a nuisance in Oxford and Riley Street with their band.
By 1900 Neville was a wealthy man. Part of his wealth came from selling whiskey – to be precise, Shamrock whiskey he had bottled in Australia.
Now his bottles and labels looked identical to the Kirker, Greer & Co product. He even added representations of medals the bottled Shamrock whiskey had won, though his cask whiskey had not.
In 1901 Kirker, Greer & Co took action before the Chief Judge in Equity for an injunction, alleging that Neville was passing the cask whiskey off as their own Shamrock whiskey which they asserted, was slightly superior. An odd stance to take perhaps, especially as Kirker, Greer & Co had allowed others to use identical bottles and labels – albeit without the medals.
But was the bottled Shamrock whiskey in fact superior to the cask Shamrock whiskey? Well, the trial went for five days on this very point, and the judge must have felt like a snifter himself after some of the ‘expert’ evidence.
Mr Adams considered the bottled whisky superior, but he was an interested party. Mr Adams claimed to be an expert until three years before when he injured his mouth, and his tasting capacity could not be then tested at trial.
Mr Forbes considered the bottled whisky superior, but he too was an interested party and did not profess to be an expert whiskey taster.
Mr Kerr was an expert and thought the bottled whisky was superior but had a heavy cold at the trial and his tasting capacity could not be tested.
Mr Collum was a Kirker, Greer & Co expert witness and considered the bottled whiskey was superior but when he retired into the Associate’s room and the two whiskies were supplied to him in glasses without his knowing which was which, he pronounced the cask whiskey bottled by Neville to be a nice palatable whiskey, and the Plaintiff’s bottled whisky to be coarse and rank. (The solicitors must have paid his fees as an expert witness with gritted teeth).
Neville gave evidence that there was no difference between the two, but he was an interested party.
Mr Bourke, the manager of Roberts bottle department said he could not tell the difference between the two, but he was not an expert.
Justice Simpson decided that overall, the bottled whiskey was slightly superior. In their dealings with other merchants, Kirker, Greer & Co had gone dangerously near the line but not passed it. If Neville had not included the medals, it would have been a different story.
And so Kirker, Greer & Co obtained an injunction.
Two years later, Neville sold the Brighton Hotel to buy the Liverpool arms. He prospered and when he later sold the Liverpool Arms for a considerable profit, with his wife Florence and their daughter, Neville travelled to Europe where they all pursued an acting career.
Sometime after Florence’s death in 1925, Neville returned to Australia and ran a private hotel for many years passing away in 1941 at the age of 74.
Fate was not as kind to Kirker, Greer and Co. On the 4th of April 1918, Kirker, Greer & Co (Australasia) Ltd was ordered to be wound up.
In the early 1920’s Irish Distillers Ltd was sold but it could not survive the Volstead Act as prohibition took away the ability of the large Irish diaspora in the USA to access Irish whiskey. In 1929, the distillery was closed. The Connswater site is now a retail park.
If this little tale has given you a thirst, do not despair. In 2007 the name Kirker Greer was reborn as an independent brand owner and distributor. Among their products – Shamrock whiskey.
(Adapted from Kirker Greer & Co Ltd v Mayman (1901) 1NSWR 73).
