IRISH FOG: 9 Myths About Whiskey Mogul John Jameson






"We always tell our clients we're much more interested in truth than in accuracy," said David Altschul, an expert in brand storytelling, in a New York Times article. And it seems "there's something in the notion of Irish whiskey" that supports this campaign.


1. The real John Jameson didn't have a beard.

Jameson Whiskey

He didn't look too much like the guy in the commercials.


2. The Jameson family motto—"Sine Metu"—is the inspiration for the commercials.

Every bottle of whiskey has the Jameson family motto, "Sine Metu," on it. The phrase means "Without Fear", which fits well with Jameson's heroic actions in Jameson's TV campaign, which includes "The Lost Barrel", "The Great Fire", "Hurricane", and "The Hawk of Achill."


3. "The Lost Barrel."

In "The Lost Barrel", John Jameson dives into the sea after a barrel of whiskey is tossed from his ship, where he is confronted by a giant octopus. Some how he defeats the creature and shows up at his own funeral.


There is no evidence that Jameson ever encountered a giant octopus.

But he did travel around the world on a boat selling Jameson whiskey (the brand was sold internationally starting in the early 1800s).

The Jameson website also makes reference to an incident when Jameson went to extreme lengths to reclaim a barrel, although no specifics are provided.

The Jamesons received their family crest — which features a ship — as an award for battling pirates in the 1500s, according to the Jameson website.


4. "The Great Fire."

"The Great Fire" tells the tale of how John Jameson saved his precious whiskey from The Great Dublin Fire of 1789. Showing how much he prized his product, he breaks a damn and floods the city to save it.


Something like that did happen in Dublin—after Jameson died.

While Dublin has suffered its fair share of devastating fires, none of them happened in 1789. There was, however, a fire at a whiskey distillery belonging to Lawrence Malone in 1875, long after Jameson had died.

In something almost out of a Jameson commercial, here is how the Illustrated London News described the event:



5. "Hurricane."

"Hurricane" is set during the Great Storm of 1780 and displays the lengths Dubliners will go to for the Jameson whiskey.


Ireland was devastated by a windstorm — in 1839.

That's not to say that Ireland doesn't get hit with hurricanes, the most famous of which happened shortly after Jameson's death in 1823.

On January 5, 1839, Night of the Big Wind was the most severe windstorm to hit Ireland in recent centuries, killing between 250 and 300 people. As Irish folklore had said that Judgement Day would occur at a date close soon after the storm, many believed that it was signaling the end of the world.


6. "The Hawk of Achill."

In this ad, John Jameson rescues a barrel of whiskey, the mason's daughter, and a whole town from the Hawk of Achill.


The Hawk of Achill is not the invention of an ad agency.

The Hawk of Achill is actually a part of Celtic folklore.

The hawk lives on an island (Achill) and is thought to be one of the oldest creatures in the world. It was supposed to have lived for thousands of years, and could remember the remote past.


7. Jameson's wife was not the daughter of a mason.

In the commercial, Jameson rescues the daughter of a mason. An older woman with a similar look appears in "The Lost Barrel." We can infer that this is meant to be Jameson's wife.

But according to marriage records found by Jameson descendants, Jameson's wife—Margaret Haig Jameson—was the daughter of a tobacconist. She was also a sister of the Haig brothers, who owned a the Haig distilleries, and relation of the Steins who also owned distilleries in Dublin.


8. But it is true that John Jameson was loved by the people of Dublin.

And it wasn't just because he made triple-distilled whiskey. According to the brand, the distiller would go to the same lengths for his staff as he would for his precious whiskey.

Jameson's distillery paid well, had good working conditions, and had a boss who could throw a great party. It is said that he got his nickname — Glorious John— from the glorious parties he used to have.


9. And he wasn't even Irish.

Jameson was born in Scotland - Alloa to be exact - on October 5, 1740 and was a lawyer there until he moved to Dublin in 1780. Maybe that's why he never talks in the ads. Wouldn't want to give it away with his Scottish brogue.

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