Oh hell no. Ice kills the taste of fine bourbon. A small splash of water maybe (even Booker Noe does it) but never ice!
I’m weird like that. I never ice or water scotch (unless it’s raw cask or something) but I *always *ice bourbon. I just like it a little cold to mitigate the burn. Not a tumbler packed with ice, mind, just a couple cubes. To me it’s really the same as adding water anyway, because the ice is completely melted before I can finish the drink.
For cognac and scotch it’s probably $30+. Most of the VSOP’s and 12-year-old’s are $30+. For everything else $25+ is probably sufficient. You can find really good bourbon or vodka for under $30.
What I usually drink straight is bourbon, scotch, or cognac. I need flavor, so I’ll usually stay away from vodka.
I tend to like the scotch/whiskey that has more sweet flavor than the ones that taste salty or peaty. So I’ll drink Jameson or Black Label straight whenever it’s around.
Cognac and bourbon usually have a sweet flavor to them, so I always drink those straight.
To answer the OP: I am fond of many distilled liquors without adulterations and gunk added to them, but if I had to pick just one type to drink straight up, it might well be tequila. It’s hard to beat a nice La Fogata or Tres Generaciones añejo for delicious sipping.
I can enjoy a good bourbon but I have to be in the mood for bourbon.
A fine aged scotch is hard to beat. Might edge out the tequila, even. My taste runs towards The Balvenie or The Macallan, old enough to drive and vote and perhaps do their own drinking.
My go-to rum for straight-up rum is Ron Zacapa Centenarios, 23 years old and spectacularly delicious.
I like some rye and dislike other ryes but I haven’t tried that many. I sort of have to be in the right mood for rye, as with bourbon.
I love a good XO Cognac. (Does Cognac count? I think it should, it’s distilled).
Way down the list is Vodka, a neutral spirit for which I have a neutral attitude. Get me some Stolichnaya and freeze it to the consistency of Karo syrup and it’s nice on a disgustingly hot humid day, but I can’t honestly say I’m drinking it with appreciation for its taste and bouquet.
Gin is the outlier. Truly horrid stuff. Just plain nasty. Even what is regarded as the very best of the breed, like Bombay Sapphire, might as well be kerosene flavored with Pine-Sol as far as I’m concerned. Just can’t stand it.
I like single-malt Scotches straight up, and have tried lots of other things, like gin, that way, but I tend to prefer mixed drinks. Vodka, to me, is good for putting in things, but I don’t like it plain.
By “straight” do you mean sans mixers or absolutely by itself (no ice).
If the former, everything. I will occasionally have a bourbon and soda on a hot day, but most of the time it’s just poured directly into the iceless glass. Irish is always drunk that way, as is brandy.
Everything else (rum, vodka, scotch, gin) I drink on the rocks with nothing else added. On the rare occasion I drink tequila it is a) chilled and b) clear.