Interesting. I wonder if the whiskey would have aged at all (people are always talking about 15 year old scotch and the like) . I wouldn't say it would have what with the freezing and all.
The drinks company has a helluva job in trying to replicate the original recipe from a few samples. As far as I can remember, Whiskey is a liqueor, in that it's distilled as a neutral grain spirit that has its flavour after the distillation process (as opposed to say vodka). All the flavour I believe comes from the barreling but I can't really remember, haven't tried to make Whiskey.