…and confine all those aromas to the bottom of the glass so they can’t escape and make their way up into your nose.
My personal rule of thumb is “somewhere just below 40% alcohol in the glass”. But I always add the water in small splashes until it tastes right for me and my current mood. A standard whisky usually needs just a small splash to a standard dram, the cask strengths are normally cut so much that I can see that they’ve been significantly diluted.
I spent a few months working up at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Scotland near Oban, and that’s where I learned to appreciate Scotch whiskey. Before then, I was not a whiskey drinker at all. Anyhow, I was taught to take it with just a tiny splash of water (maybe a few drops), so that habit’s become kind of engrained in me. Usually, what I’ll do is ask for whiskey with a glass of water on the side, if I’m ordering at a bar, so I can add the water myself.
Water absolutely opens the drink up, and changes the taste of the Scotch. When ordering in a bar, I’ll often ask that they put a single small ice cube into it.
I’m reiterating a bit of what others said, but there are two answers, depending on your answer to this question:
Are you drinking for pleasure, or appreciation?
If the answer is pleasure, drink it anyway you like. Ice, water, straight, mixed… you can’t go wrong. It’s what you like! You’re drinking for you, so you’re the expert here.
If you’re looking for appreciation, a few drops of water is where to start. Water “opens up” the whisky… many of the flavors are trapped, so to speak, and water breaks down the “trap” and releases aroma and flavor. This is true of every whisky, at every level. If you gave a bottle handy, pour a glass and sniff it. Then drop in a few drops of water and sniff it again. You’ll be amazed at the difference. (Pro-tip, by the way: don’t swirl your scotch. The alcohol will evaporate quicker and overpower the nose and flavor)
How much water? Depends on the drink. Cask strength might need more water than regular scotch. Start small and add more. If you stick with it, you’ll start to develop some good instincts on how much water to add to make it tasty for you!
Nitpick: I doubt they’d have served scotch whiskey in Oban… whisky possibly (without the “e”) 
I usually roll with about a couple of teaspoons to start, bourbon or scotch. Whether or not I add more depends on the proof and the intensity of the spirit. Something like say… Maker’s Mark is 80 proof and relatively mild, needing less water compared to say… Noah’s Mill at 100 or so proof and more intense.
Dilution lessens the intensity, allowing your tongue and nose to “concentrate” a little better on what it’s getting, instead of just being overwhelmed by really strong whiskey flavors and aromas.
Dammit, I did mean whisky. I knew that. :smack: ETA: But, in my defense, I was talking about whiskey in general for my other whiskey references. Seems kind of silly in a discussion about whiskey to have to talk about “whisky” and “whiskey,” depending on where it hails from.
Whatever floats your boat. Personally, water in any form or volume does not improve the taste of the single malts, even cask strength, or the two whiskeys I drink. I’ve tried it and respect the opinions and preferences of those that employ it, but I absolutely only take mine neat.
There really is a difference, IMO, between single malts without a bit of water and with the water.
I’ve gone to several whiskey tastings and they have always recommended to add a bit of water. I do it anyways because I’m still not totally used to the burn (which also numbs you and makes it harder to taste).
I’m not a serious whiskey drinker - I like drinking my whiskey or bourbon with ice. When I’m not mixing it in with ginger ale.
I drink my single-malts neat pretty often, but sometimes I switch it up and do this. A single small icecube won’t chill your drink nearly enough to numb tastebuds, and I like the way the flavor changes as the water/scotch ratio changes.
Laphroaig?
I have a bottle of Laphroaig Triple Wood right here, and it says on the bottle: “Please note that since Laphroaig Triple Wood is non-chill filtered it may go cloudy in the glass when water is added. This is perfectly normal for a non-chill filtered whisky”. So clearly the distillers are amenable to water being added.
See also the tasting notes on Laphroaig’s own website:
I never used to add water to Scotch, having being told by a snobby relative that it was sacrilege. Then I decided I’d see for myself, and found it greatly improved the flavour in many cases. Now I’ll add up to about a third water (plain tap water), but generally less. And never ice! (But again, that’s just my taste, YMaltMV)
I like boubons, ryes, and some single malts. There is an iron clad rule regarding how one consume’s a drink: “an alcoholic beverage is meant to be enjoyed, anything you add to it to increase your enjoment is acceptable.” Please note there are no waivers to this policy.
Yet another vote for the cromulence of adding a small nip of water, this on the advice of our local distillery (England’s only one, which I live within a determined walk of). I don’t always follow his advice, but the observations above about the positive impact are quite true.
Not a very well-informed snob, is he? I confess, I’ve always felt a little self-conscious and snobbish at most bars asking for a whisky, neat with “just a splash of water,” which is part of the reason I order the water on the side. (Also, to control the exact amount of water I want.)
I was always skeptical that adding water could “open up” a whiskey beyond reducing the burn on the tongue. But it seems that science supports the idea; more happens than just dilution.
That’s why I chew every sip.
I was always a “water in single malt? Are you HIGH?!” gal, but then a couple of years ago, at the Longs Peak Scottish Festival, I asked one of the vendors at one of scotch tents what was up with that. He took me and my SO aside, and let both of us taste three or four different small sips of various single malts, first without a few drops of water and then with a few.
I was pretty amazed at the difference - for some of them, the water opened up the flavor quite a bit, for others, not so much, and for some, the flavor change was not to my liking.
So, when I have a scotch with which I’m unfamiliar, I’ll experiment. The ones with which I am familiar, I already know whether or not I like to add water.
Yeah, that is it.
No, but he’s far from alone. I think it might stem from a macho “real men don’t water down their liquor” mentality…