Then YOU drink the Talisker and pour THEM a warm Tab and Sambucca. It’s not like they would notice the difference.
Serve it neat. Then bring them a glass of ice water or soda on the side. Unless they specify with a splash of this or that. You never assume they want anything in the tumbler except whiskey.
I missed it before, but the correct answer to the OP title question is
often
(Note: If it does not have Gin and Vermouth, then it is not a martini; it is a cocktail. Got that “Sex in the City” fans and James Bond wannabes?)
To make that a little clearer to all you young bartenders (the older ones seem to know better), when I ask for a martini, do not reply with “gin or vodka?” If I want a vodka martini, I’ll ask for one.
I’ve only heard this to be true with cask strength whiskey. 1/3 water to 2/3 whisky sounds a bit much to me otherwise. But if it works for you, that’s fine. As long as you keep rocks out of the equation, I’m all for it. When I lived briefly in Scotland, I was taught to take whisky with just the smallest splash of water, if not neat.
Up, with a water back, of course. 
I still maintain that there is no such ting as a vodka martini, the whole thing is a sham thought up by the marketing department of Schmirnov.
I’ll whole-heartedly second the notion that Citadelle is THE gin of choice for a martini.
I have a question about glassware for whiskey though. Why is a brandy snifter not traditionally used for whiskeys? It seems to me that all the reasons that make that glass ideal for brandy/cognac would make it equally suitable for whiskey.
Just make sure you put the water in the glass first. When you add water to whisky, you are making your whisky taste worse. When you add whisky to water, you are making your water taste better!
A few drops, at most, in my single malts, thank you.
And I have to agree with the other martini posters: fancy martinis are cocktails, period. Nothing wrong with a vodkatini (I like one now and again), but it ain’t the classic martini. My point of unorthodoxy on martinis is that I don’t like olives; I use an onion pickled in vermouth (much like myself!).
Oh–and stirred gently, not shaken. I know it’s gong well if I get frost appearing on the outside of the martini pitcher.
Has anyone tried that new Scottish gin, Hendrick’s?
I don’t like Scotch. I don’t like Gin, either.
So, if you are serving that whisky to me, it needs to be either Bushmill’s (preferably single malt) Irish Whisky, as is, in a glass, thank you.
Or, really good bourbon, with pure water, about equal parts, no ice, thank you.
Shape of the glass is less important than the size. About a four or six ounce glass, with about an ounce or two of whisky.
Tris
A note: “whiskey” is generally used to refer to Irish, American or Canadian liquor, while “whisky” is the spelling prefered for Scotch.
I guess I’m going to be called a heretic for actually preferring Seagram’s gin to the more expensive Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire. Ah well, I likes what I likes.
And I can’t stand anything more whiskey-like than Southern Comfort. I can’t even drink a weak Jack & Coke without holding my nose.
About twice a year, I’m in a position to drink while out. I always order the best whisk(e)y available, neat. I always get looked at as if I have three heads. And then the server asks, "What’s ‘neat?’ " Is it just me? Or is this word actually meaningless to the world at large, implying that I’m a relic?
Much dogma here!
I like my whisky neat and straight, as do most true con-a-sewers (heh), but when a malt I’ve bought doesn’t really do it for me, it goes into my Rob Roy bottle in the freezer and meets a bitters and vermouth fate.
Not all malts are great, not all blends deserve only to be mixed. Every try The Baillie Nichol Jarvie? Or Teacher’s Highland Cream, my fave blend of all.
You can drink malt over ice, too. Why not? I don’t prefer it that way, but malt is just another whisky, unless it stands above. But a good malt on ice is going to be better than a crappy malt on ice, so if you like it icy, I say go for it.
Whisky and water, whisky and soda. Not my drinks, but with plenty of tradition behind them.
I sometimes order “neat” as well. It depends on the bar whether I get the weird look or not.
I usually just say “no ice, no water.” It’s clear and no mistake is possible!
I always use the term “neat” (because it’s the correct term to use), and I’ve never had a bartender ask what it means. It’s pretty standard jargon, if the bartender has never heard it before there are probably a lot of other things he’s doing wrong. I’ll have to keep this in mind if ever I’m drinking in your neck of the woods.
I actually have had whiskey served to me in that manner 