The Quiet man was closer to traditional Irish whisky. It was very smooth but had a definite peated taste but it wasn't overbearing.Because it isn't corn based it isn't as sweet as American whiskies. Irish whisky is made largely of malted barley. Occasionally they will use a small amount of wheat or oats to mellow the flavor. The "peated" taste comes from the burning of peat moss to dry the barley after it is malted. The malting process is basically just sprouting the seeds to release the enzymes so the grain can produce the starch needed to produce alcohol.