Kirk and sweeney were the names of a wooden schooner that was best known for smuggling rum from the caribbean to the united states during prohibition says august sebastiani president of 35 maple street distillery. Just before it entered the territorial waters of the united states the schooner would drop anchor and sell the rum to smaller boats which would come up alongside the kirk and sweeney. The smaller boats which were faster and more maneuverable than the boats in the coast guard’s fleet would smuggle the rum ashore. 40% abv 80 proof as other boats followed suit the edge of u. S. Jurisdiction – the line where boats like the kirk and sweeney dropped anchor – became known as the rum line and the row of ships waiting to sell rum on the rum line was said to be anchored on rum row. Kirk and sweeney 23-year-old rum is a rum crafted in the dominican republic from raw sugarcane. After being distilled the rum is aged for 23 years in american oak casks