Alright, I'm a bit late to the party, but I'll toss one out there anyway.

Did you know that during Prohibition, there was actually one Scotch Whiskey that LEGALLY prospered?

Laphroaig (pronounced "la-Froyg") is an Islay (pronounced "I-la") Scotch known for it's extremely bold smokey and peaty flavor. This is the kind of drink that people either love or hate.

At any rate, it gains this briny, smokey, peaty flavor from the peat that they burn to malt the barley (basically stopping the germination process).

The peat is soaked in seawater and gradually gains a higher concentration of iodine. When it is then burned to malt the barley, the flavors of the smoke, peat, iodine, and brine get absorbed into the barley. These flavors then become the primary and most well known characteristic of Laphroaig (imagine drinking a campfire).

During prohibition, apparently the smell of this Scotch Wiskey was enough like iodine to convince officials that it was medicinal, as certainly no one could be importing such a spirit just for enjoyment.

Thus it was sold as a medicinal spirit by doctors and pharmacies, allowing it to grow and prosper while most other spirits and other forms of alcohol were relegated to the black market and bootleggers.

I hope you enjoyed this random fun fact!