Irish whiskey against the flu

On a recent business trip to London I caught a cold. During the day, full of heavy rain, I felt worse and worse. However, I soldiered on and went to a festive dinner. The next day I felt worse. A lovely elderly Irish lady counseled me to take an old Irish recipe against a cold: a hot Irish whiskey. Here is the deal: you take a generous helping of Irish (apparently important) whiskey, add two cloves, some lime juice and stir it with hot water. Then drink. Quite a disgusting concoction I must say. Did it help? Not really, but it made the barkeeper smile!