strong drink vs John Barleycorn

strong drink and John Barleycorn both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
strong drink	Yes	No	No	No
John Barleycorn	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, strong drink and John Barleycorn are synonyms defined as:

strong drink and John Barleycorn: an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented

Other synonyms of strong drink include booze, hard drink, hard liquor, liquor, spirits.

strong drink (noun)	John Barleycorn (noun)
an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented	an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented