During Prohibition in the 1920s, the Bronfman brothers in Canada bought 
up Seagrams, an elite producer of whiskey and turned it into one of the 
major sources for fine Scotch in the U.S.

    This was certainly true concerning the Philadelphia,  New Jersey, 
and New York areas.
Could Seagrams have had other customers in the South?  At then end of 
prohibition, Seagrams paid a fine for its illegal activities during 
Prohibition, moved its operation the New York/New Jersey, and continued 
to sell the same brands in the U.S.  It became to major liquor 
distributors in the world--so it might have also become popular in the South

                                        Mark Haller

David Fahey wrote:

>I received a couple of questions from a journalist and had no answer.
>Can anybody help?
>
>1) why Canadian whiskey is so popular in pockets of the South -- in
>parts of rural Arkansas, the drink of choice.
>2) whether Southern loyalty to Kentucky and Tennessee whiskey is on
>the decline (or has been for a long while).
>
>Maybe my problem is that I haven't drunk Canadian whiskey, bourbon, or
>Tennessee whiskey in many years.  I am under the impression that the
>dark whiskies and rums have lost market share for a long time, so I
>don't think that I'm unique.
>
>  
>