That's the way I heard it, too.

From some concentrated experience back in my Navy days I remember that there were some who could drink beer all night long and barely show it; give them one shot of hard stuff and they were out like a light. Others were just the opposite, handling hard stuff with no problem but conking out on a single beer. If I drank hard stuff I'd start out slow and speed up as the night wore on but on beer I'd start out fast and slow down. I suspect that it is all a matter of individual differences.