# I'm trying Bourbon tonight for the first time. Any advice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [January 6, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005 "2018-01-06T22:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/21 "2018-01-08T00:28:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > In that case skip the first part of my post above. Neat with a splash with dinner. > > But what you really need to do is find a friendly and knowledgeable bartender, a wingman, a DD and a free evening. Sample several different bourbons - wheated, high-rye, single-barrel, etc. Find what you like. > > Then drink Wild Turkey. šŸ˜ƒ Yes. The 101 proof stuff, though, not the inferior 89 or whatever-it-is version. Their 101 is a very very nice bourbon. Despite being mainstream and popular and extremely well-established, Austin Nichols Wild Turkey is a spectacularly nice sipping whiskey. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/22 "2018-01-08T00:33:08Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Drinking whiskey WITH the meal would be enough to get you kicked out of France. And the downside would beā€¦? šŸ˜› The wife and I save a bundle every time we essay to ā€œfine dineā€ because it will probably be in Vegas and we will definitely will have been drinking all day and our palates will be shot. I respect vintners too much to try to appreciate their wares with whisk(e)y on my breath. So away with the over-priced, rapacious wine list, garcon, and bring me another rye Manhattan to go with my still-mooing beef. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/23 "2018-01-08T00:39:28Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Drinking whiskey WITH the meal would be enough to get you kicked out of France. The French think Anglos and Americans are nuts for fucking their palates up with hard liquor at mealtimes, even as an aperitif. > > I agree with the pre-dinner cocktailā€¦a bourbon Manhattan would be a better choice than an Old Fashioned or a Whiskey Sour, more of a chance to taste the boozeā€¦and a glass of a different whiskey afterward, neat or with an ice cube or two, like having a brandy. I love bourbon Manhattans although I havenā€™t had one in ages. Itā€™s usually just beer these days. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/24 "2018-01-08T02:10:43Z")
As an aside, I definitely donā€™t get the appeal of bourbon on the rocks. I like it room temperature. Chill, it seems to me to lose some of its flavorā€“and why water it down? If I want less flavor, Iā€™ll take tinier sips. Does the ice make it easier to drink quickly, or something? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/25 "2018-01-08T02:17:00Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > And the downside would beā€¦? šŸ˜› Ah, as a stone Francophile it would break my heart to be physically escorted away from \*le plus beau pays du Monde. \*. Just bring me a Pernod or a Campari or a chilled vermouth while I peruse _la carte._ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/26 "2018-01-08T02:19:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > As an aside, I definitely donā€™t get the appeal of bourbon on the rocks. I like it room temperature. Chill, it seems to me to lose some of its flavorā€“and why water it down? If I want less flavor, Iā€™ll take tinier sips. Does the ice make it easier to drink quickly, or something? In one of the pub tales in James Joyceā€™s _Dubliners,_ the protagonists take a little water to put into their strong malt whiskey. Why would I question the Irish, of all people, on how to take my drink? When Iā€™m in England/Scotland/Wales/Ireland, the barkeep notes my American accent and wants to put ice in my whiskey. I turn him down and ask for a little water, with which I temper the booze, or take as a chaser, depending on the mood. Heā€™s usually gratified that I prefer to follow the local custom. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/27 "2018-01-08T02:22:47Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > In one of the pub tales in James Joyceā€™s _Dubliners,_ the protagonists take a little water to put into their strong malt whiskey. Why would I question the Irish, of all people, on how to take my drink? Hell yes Iā€™d question them how to take my drink. Theyā€™re not the ones gonna drink it :). Also, when I drink bourbon, I stretch a glass out over an hour. Yer Joycian Dubliners may have different drinking goals. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/28 "2018-01-08T02:30:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Hell yes Iā€™d question them how to take my drink. Theyā€™re not the ones gonna drink it :). > > Also, when I drink bourbon, I stretch a glass out over an hour. Yer Joycian Dubliners may have different drinking goals. Being almost exclusively a wine drinker, with a occasional mixed drink cocktail, I was also surprised how the bourbon was easy to stretch about an hour. Tiny sips. I will be trying your recommendation the next time I order a bourbon (assuming my bar has it). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/29 "2018-01-08T02:30:43Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > I love bourbon Manhattans although I havenā€™t had one in ages. Itā€™s usually just beer these days. I mostly stick to wine and beer meself these days; itā€™s a ā€œgetting oldā€ thing. Iā€™m gleaning through my hundreds of cookbooks, food books, and drink books lately, trying to get rid of the dreck. But Iā€™m holding onto the James Villas 1970s book of essays where he lauds the Manhattan, calling it a softer and more subtle cocktail than the Martini, which is still my favorite. Years ago when I was still an Imporatnt Book Editor, I was on a business trip to Miamiā€¦I remember toasting with my big gay Texan publicist buddy in a fahhhhbulous South Beach hotel bar filled with fahhhhbulous beautiful people, me holding an enormous cocktail glass of chilled Martini, him with the same of Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/30 "2018-01-08T02:36:01Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Hell yes Iā€™d question them how to take my drink. Theyā€™re not the ones gonna drink it :). > > Also, when I drink bourbon, I stretch a glass out over an hour. Yer Joycian Dubliners may have different drinking goals. In Ireland I can nibble at a pint of Guinness for an hour. But I canā€™t hold back when thereā€™s an ounce or two of Paddyā€™s or Powers or Jamiesonā€™s on the bar in front of me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/31 "2018-01-08T02:40:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Being almost exclusively a wine drinker, with a occasional mixed drink cocktail, I was also surprised how the bourbon was easy to stretch about an hour. Tiny sips. I will be trying your recommendation the next time I order a bourbon (assuming my bar has it). Excellent! Slugged bourbon is fine, I guess, but it seems to me a little like demanding your hour-long massage be a single five-second jackhammer. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/32 "2018-01-08T14:34:33Z")
If youā€™re looking for other bourbonā€™s to try, I highly recommend Angelā€™s Envy. Tried at my favorite restaurant recently and found it to be the smoothest bourbon Iā€™ve ever had. Better than Woodford, Makerā€™s, Jim Beam, Bullet, etc etc. Just for the record, I like my bourbon with a small amount of ice. It melts a little and does indeed ā€œopenā€ the bourbons flavor, and I just prefer it will a bit of a chill. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/33 "2018-01-08T15:03:05Z")
I donā€™t really get the idea of using ice; some of the stronger ones will take a splash of water to pull them into less harshly powerful territory, but then I useā€¦well, water! Chilling any drink will mask some of the flavours. Itā€™s a bit like putting Rioja on ice as far as Iā€™m concerned: it may well be drinkable, but it wonā€™t be at its best. If you like it chilled, drink it chilled - itā€™s your drink - but you will taste more of the complexities if you leave out the ice. Heaven Hill is my regular tipple: easy going, soft, creamy vanilla sweetness (once itā€™s had a chance to breathe a bit at room temperature). Elijah Craig and Noahā€™s Mill are the ones that really make me sit up and take notice though. Big, stunning, rich flavours that completely envelope the palate; absolutely glorious bourbons. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/34 "2018-01-08T15:49:47Z")
Even Booker Noe took his bourbon with a splash. The added bit of water opens the nose and lets you enjoy the aromas more. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/35 "2018-01-08T16:11:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The added bit of water opens the nose and lets you enjoy the aromas more. What does ā€œopens the noseā€ actually mean? My experience is that I enjoy the aromas less when itā€™s chilled/diluted. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/36 "2018-01-08T20:08:24Z")
The splash of water, in my understanding, frees up some of the aroma factors and allows easier flavor detection and appreciation. It always works that way for me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/37 "2018-01-08T20:18:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The splash of water, in my understanding, frees up some of the aroma factors and allows easier flavor detection and appreciation. It always works that way for me. Iā€™m sorry, not trying to be a dick, but what does ā€œfrees up some of the aroma factorsā€ mean? I guess Iā€™m trying to figure out what happens chemically. Iā€™ve rarely drunk bourbon with ice or water (full disclosure, though, one of those times was at the Woodford Reserve distillery, figuring if anyone could make me appreciate it itā€™d be them), and every time I have, itā€™s tasted watery and unhappy, compared to drinking it full-strength and room-temperature. At room temperature, it seems to me that the volatiles are going to evaporate faster and lead to increased aroma; my understanding is that this is true for all flavors, and I canā€™t understand chemically why itā€™d be different for bourbon. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/38 "2018-01-08T20:27:53Z")
Iā€™ve spent the last several minutes reading various articles about the science of ice in spirits. As near as I can tell, chilling the alcohol can lessen the alcoholā€™s burn, allowing some folks to taste other flavors more clearly, which, okay, that makes some sense. And it definitely dilutes the bourbon, which also removes unpleasant burn for some folks. The effect lessens once you hold it in your mouth, since the bourbon warms back up; one of its bigger effects is to dampen the volatiles (and evaporating alcohol) in the glass. Since, like I said, I like to drink bourbon super slowly, measuring sips almost by the droplet, the alcohol burn stays at a reasonable level to me. And I love the intense aromatic hit I get from sticking my nose into the snifter and, well, sniffing. So I see why other folks like water/ice in their bourbon, but Iā€™m clearer now on why I donā€™t :). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/39 "2018-01-08T20:40:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Then drink Wild Turkey. šŸ˜ƒ This whiskey is aged only in the finest radial tire carcasses, and probably peed in by some opossum. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > I had one bourbon, one scotch and one beer! You ainā€™t seen your baby since night before last? > [@silenus](#): > > The splash of water, in my understanding, frees up some of the aroma factors and allows easier flavor detection and appreciation. It always works that way for me. The phenolics, esters, aldehydes, and lactones are what gives aged whiskeys their aromas and flavors, and regardless of the distillation process, the barrel aging is provides these compounds. (There are some slight flavors that can some through incomplete distillation but that is not generally desirable.) Adding water, either with a ā€˜splashā€™ or by melting ice, allows these aromatic compounds to vaporize (more readily with warm water than ice, naturally). I personally like to rinse the glass with filtered tap water and then pour the whiskey over the residue that clings to the glass, which seems to give the perfect amount and distribution, and otherwise keep it neat, but to each their own; just please donā€™t use top shelf bourbon in an Old Fashioned or other drink with simple syrup. If you pour the drink in a snifter or globe glass, once you are done drinking you can smell it every few minutes and see how the aroma changes as difference layers of aromatics ā€˜peel offā€™. A good whiskey will have at least four or five distinct aromas before it completely evaporates. [Some cursory information about the chemistry of whiskey.](http://www.compoundchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Chemistry-of-Whisky.png) Buffalo Trace is quite good, Blantonā€™s is excellent if a little sweeter than I care for, but Four Roses Small Batch is my go to, and it comes in an elegant bottle with an easy-to-grasp cork as well. You know, just in case your dexterity starts to degrade as the evening goes along. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005/40 "2018-01-08T20:41:13Z")
The articles deal with Scotch, but the principle is the same: [http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/08/17/scotch-splash-of-water/](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/08/17/scotch-splash-of-water/) > **[The Scientific Reason You Should Add a Splash of Water to Your Whiskey](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/science-says-add-little-water-your-scotch-180964562/)** > > A computer simulation shows that diluting whiskey brings flavor molecules to the surface, improving the aroma and taste of the tipple > **[The best way to drink whiskey, according to science](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/17/the-best-way-to-drink-whiskey-according-to-science/)** > > Scotch drinkers say adding water makes the spirit taste better, and a new study shows why. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-trying-bourbon-tonight-for-the-first-time-any-advice/806005.md?page=3)