For purposes here assume you are going for a Scotch straight-up (neat).
First as a person who drinks almost exclusively wine and beer I have little experience with hard alcohols. I have had them to be sure but if we went out to dinner 100 times I’d order beer or wine 100 times and not a hard alcohol straight…not that I am opposed…just preference.
Still, on rare occasions I will try some. Usually with someone who is an aficionado that is passionate about whatever it is.
I saw my brother tonight (I see him perhaps once a year these days but we are close) and he rarely drinks hard stuff but does dig a good Scotch. I mentioned, having talked not too long ago to another person who really was into Scotch, that you needed to put a drop or two of water into the Scotch to “open it up”.
My brother had never heard of this but I trusted my other source too.
So I Googled it and found differing opinions but, frankly, most of the sites I saw did not give me a feeling of credibility.
I’m not a scotch snob, but I do enjoy my whiskey. From my understanding, the tradition of adding some water dates back to the days when whiskey was bottled at cask strength (often 55% ABV or higher), and it was desireable to dilute it a little to make it more palatable. If you’re drinking your scotch on the rocks, you’ll get the same effect from the melting ice over time.
Why mess up a good thing? I don’t go for the brown likkers. I go for the whites: rum,vodka, gin. But the few times I have embibed brown, I’d just as soon knock it down straight. So for me it’s kind of like how would you grade this vomit? I’m like the SNL crowd; nobody likes the taste of booze but we like what it does. On rare occasions my sons have forced me to take a shot. Yes, forced me. They don’t physically hold me down but they put me in a “social corner” where if I don’t do it, I’m a pussy. (Sorry, know this word is offensive to some but growing up with & giving birth to men, I’ve just got to the point where I go with the flow.) Unfortunetly the current shot of choice is Jager(meister.) Nasty, vile stuff. Like melted licorice. If I wanted to spike my blood sugar level I’ve rather eat some cheesecake but sometimes you just gotta defend your rep.
Seriously, I wouldn’t add water. Pinch your nose and chug, then order a nice pina colada or tequila sunrise.
Cheers, Jimmy Buffet.
Becky, maybe I’m not speaking for everyone here, but you don’t drink Whsky as a shot - it tastes far too delicious and its flavor is way too strong to just knock it down like that.
Savor it, enjoy the taste, take little sips. You may be right for vodka or gin, most people probably drink those to get loaded, but Whisky tastes gooooood!
The right gin makes a gin and tonic a good drink rather than a bad drink. Thank goodness my container finally showed up (with my gin and tequila). The generic crap sold here is only worth drinking for effect!
Oh, and like you said for whiskey (my Maker’s Mark showed up, too), that goes for good tequila, too.
It’s personal preference, but any serious whisky drinker will always cut their drink with up to 10% cool spring water. It helps release many of the subtle volatiles which would otherwise be overpowered by the alcohol.
I have a copy of this book - The Malt Whisky File - and the authors (who are serious whisky geeks) are insistent that water is essential to properly enjoy a dram.
Best answer is to try it yourself - make sure you don’t use tap water though (too many chemical flavours). Ideally you should use water from the same burn that feeds the distillery, but that’s not always practical.
For three fingers of whisky you want between half and one finger of water, but play around and see what works.
There is some machno nonsense around which insists on straight single malt… if anyone calls you out on it, just look pityingly at them and politely ask whether this is the first time they’ve ever drunk whisky, as they are clearly amateurs.
I consider myself quite serious about whisky (although I’m not sure I’d want to call myself a “serious drinker” ), drink almost exclusively single malts and avoid blended Scotch like the plague. However, I don’t always cut my whisky with water. It depends a little on the quality and the personality of the whisky, and my own mood. That said, I almost always cut the best single malts. As you say, this releases some of the subtler aromas and cuts down on the alcoholic odor/taste.
Y’know, some places have tap water that doesn’t taste like a chemistry lab. Especially in Northern Europe, where the chlorination levels usually are kept very low to avoid that chemical taste And some of that bottled water is just too rich in minerals, giving it a totally different taste far from the “original” (peaty water is usually very soft).
I did part of the Whiskey trail from Aberdeen through the Highlands, down the Spey and then down the West coast 20 years ago. Sampled some of the finest whisky both single malt and blended. Each had its disticntive flavor if not completely different character.
Bottom line, drink what and how you like it, it is a purely personal preference that the snobs have no right to dictate.
I mix whiskey to club soda at about a 2:1 ratio (or 3:1 if I’m feeling feisty). I like how it blunts the burn, opens up the flavor, and gives it a nice mouthfeel.
You only drink whisky with ice if you want to numb all taste and smell receptors.
True. I was once treated to a 40 year old sherry cask McAllan (costing some 9000 SEK/bottle) and my host, who is of the watering school, said “This one you DON’T have to add water to”. He also treated us to a 15 year old sherry for comparison’s sake. It was very lovely.
Not true. You add as much (or little) water as is needed drop by drop. Some people use a teaspoon to measure, but a bartender once taught me to use a drinking straw as a pipette. It works perfectly.
Try your favourite whiskey with a little water. If you like it better, then add it in the future. If you don’t, or cannot tell a difference, then don’t bother anymore.
In my opinion, if the distillers wanted their product to have more water they would add more water before bottling. It is not as if a good whiskey were intended to be mixed with fruit juice or soda-pop, like some other spirits. (And drinking a bad whiskey is its own punishment.)
I know that there is at least one Islay scotch that recommends adding a very small bit of water. IIRC, the advice was on a little foldout attached to the bottle neck. I am drawing a blank on the name tho.
Booker Noe drank his with a touch of branch water. Are you going to argue with him? But just a touch. It opens up the nose and lets you enjoy all the aromas, especially on the higher-proof whiskies like Rare Breed.
I have heard it argued that the same applies drinking neat whisky… i.e. a sip of neat 55% spirit is also going to numb the tastebuds. Having said that, I’m not sure adding a small amount of water will make that much difference.
Take your whisky whichever way you prefer it. I like about 1/4 teaspoon of water in a 2 oz. dram, myself. (I don’t actually measure it out, mind - that’s just a guess about what a ‘splash’ really works out to be.)
I have friends who insist on drinking cask strength single malts absolutely neat, and I have no qualms whatsoever about adding water to what they hand me. I do find the water opens out the subtle notes, especially in a single malt that is a complex bouquet of notes.
There can be a real ‘macho’ undertone to some people’s appreciation of whisky, not unlike what happens with spicy food…
), drink almost exclusively single malts and avoid blended Scotch like the plague. However, I don’t always cut my whisky with water. It depends a little on the quality and the personality of the whisky, and my own mood. That said, I almost always cut the best single malts. As you say, this releases some of the subtler aromas and cuts down on the alcoholic odor/taste.
And some of that bottled water is just too rich in minerals, giving it a totally different taste far from the “original” (peaty water is usually very soft).