A week or two ago I decided to do some browsing in the hard liquor aisle at one of my local liquor stores. I've seen various Dr. McGillicuddy offerings over the years, but I didn't really take much notice. But this time I did. And I saw that it was made in Canada. Which is exotic enough, I think. So I got one--the apple pie flavor.
According to the label on my bottle, Aloysius Percival McGillicuddy was born in 1808. He was a barkeep and part owner of the Shady Eye Saloon. In his will he bequeathed his home, livestock, and half interest in the saloon to his 5th wife, Hermione, aged 22. To his (unnamed) son, he left his watch, dueling pistols, and favorite pipe. And then, to quote it exactly, "To the world I present the recipe for Dr. McGillicuddy's, whose refreshing taste has made me a bit of a legend in these parts. To your fortune!" The bottle also is embossed with "Est. 1865." And the provided info on the official website adds that the "Dr." title might be honorific rather than literal.
Except, none of the above is true. Ha! I had a little fun with you. Dr. McGillicuddy is the invented character for a liquor brand. The real history of the brand is much more murky than the fictitious one. It started as Dr. McGillicuddy's Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey in the mid 1980's, for the Seagram company. However, in 1989 Seagram sold it to the giant Sazerac liquor firm, of which I've reported on a few times before, on December 19th, 2020, and June 11th, 2022, and March 22nd of this year. This brand makes quite a few flavored liqueurs, and some flavored whiskeys. Examples of the former are root beer, cherry, peppermint, raw vanilla, coffee, mentholmint, peach, butterscotch, and wild grape. Examples of the latter are honey whiskey, peach whiskey, apple whiskey, and blackberry whiskey. Also, if you're curious about what you would look like with various old timey mustaches, the official Dr. McGillicuddy website has a "mustache machine" feature where you can see this, using 6 different styles, and several different hair colors.
Dr. McGillicuddy's apple pie liqueur: It had a strength of 21% alcohol, or 42 proof. The drink had an apple-y odor, and a yellowish hue, like apple juice. It tasted....like apple pie. It starts off tasting strongly of apples, and ends with a cinnamon, somehow pastry-like flavor. So, overall it was very good and I quite enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a different kind of shot, especially if they like apple pie. (Which, when you get right down to it, doesn't pretty much everybody?) So unless you really hate sweet alcoholic drinks or something, you'll probably like this. I plan to try other Dr. McGillicuddy offerings in the future, as well.
After I checked around a bit on the official website, I tried to figure out if there had been an actual person named Dr. McGillicuddy, or at least a historic inspiration. And I think I have a good candidate. There was a Valentine Trant McGillycuddy, who lived from 1849-1939. He was a graduate of a real medical school, and spent much of his life as a surgeon. He went into the American West, acting as a doctor, topographer, and surveyor, on various expeditions. Initially he seemed unusually progressive about American Indians. He tried to save Crazy Horse after he was mortally wounded, and lobbied the American government to treat Indians better. Alas, later, when he was the Indian Agent at the Pine Ridge Agency (in South Dakota), his reputation with the Indians plummeted. They accused him of mismanagement, and various forms of corruption. Still later, in 1879, he was the first Surgeon General of South Dakota. And in 1897 he was briefly mayor of the South Dakota community of Rapid City. When World War I broke out McGillycuddy re-enlisted, and helped treat influenza patients in the Western states and Alaska. I can't be positive that Dr. McGillycuddy was the impetus for the fictional liquor brand Dr. McGillicuddy, but the similarities sure seem suspicious.
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