The suggestion had a middle-of-the-cocktail-party logic: Why not have a quadripartite whiskey festival, featuring Canada, Scotland, the U.S. and Ireland? "There are international conferences, congresses, and conclaves for most of man's endeavors, enjoyments, and art forms; except whiskey. And we (The Whiskey Distillers of Ireland) have often wondered why."
Thus begins the latest paean to Irish whiskey by a pair of offbeat West Coast admen named Joseph Weiner, 43, and Howard Gossage, 42, who have floated to prominence clinging to champagne bottles, beer kegs, brandy snifters and, of course, fifths of Irish....