In our occasional whiskey threads, the old discussion usually has popped up about adding water before imbibing, and whether that helps or is just a silly affectation.

As I've explained here before, I used to belong to the "Real men don't add water to their whiskey" school of thought.

Then, several years ago, I watched an interview with the late Elmer T. Lee. Maybe not a famous name to you, but an absolute legend in the whiskey world. As the long-time master distiller at what is now the Buffalo Trace Distillery, he is best-known for pretty much inventing the concept of the single barrel bourbon, when he created Blanton's in 1984.

And old Elmer happily explained that he always watered his whiskey down to about 60 proof, because that's where you get the best flavors.

This was quite a shock. Imagine the Pope telling you to have all the premarital sex you want. Apparently that "Real men ..." thing needed adjustment.

I started adding some water, and while Elmer's 60 proof seem to be overdoing it, it works for me, especially since I tend to buy higher-proof bottlings that can use some water to tamp down the alcoholic burn a bit.

Now, and that's actually the reason for this post, science has nicely confirmed that Elmer was right. The study has been widely reported today; here is one link (briefly suspend any issues you may have with mainstream media; this is just booze ):

Why whiskey tastes better with a little water - CNN

If I want some water in my whiskey or whisky, I'll add a nice big cube of clear ice. As much US whiskeys as I used to drink "back in the day", I much prefer the smoothness of a good Irish over the harshness of bourbon today....

I haven't had a drink in near 20 years but I paid my dues during the day. I drank to get drunk and learned to drink in Pulaski County Ky, a dry county. The usual pattern was to go to Lebanon or Richmond and buy a case of Ancient Age boubon and the preferred way of drinking was a glass of boubon and a glass of ice water to chase it with. Keep it simple and that's the way I drank until I quit. Sometimes I'd order bourbon/water or scotch/water as a cocktail but I preferred shots backed with ice water.

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God spelled backwards is dog.

Just can't do watered down whiskey I need some water on the side occasionally
I like a little apple juice on the side with my shine

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GADS! Water in your Whiskey. That's pollution!

One should not even put ICE in it. Which is why they make Whiskey Stones

One should drink it however they like it.

When I drank , I did have a splash of water.

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Still Running Against the Wind

No one said water it down. A splash of water for my real good whiskys.... a little ice for others.


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Have been doing this for a long time. I'm not big on whiskies......I like em just not enough to buy.....but my friend is. He buys all kinds. Some he tastes, some he drinks and others he collects. Anyway, he showed me that water thing I agree it does bring out more taste as well as mellows it out. Depending on the actual whiskey I'll either add one or two tea spoons of water. Usually I start with just a little. I can always add more but can't take away if I add too much

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I don't know who Elmer T. Lee is and frankly I don't give a care.

You start watering down my whiskey and there's going to be problems. Do that to my Maker's or Mellow Corn and I'm putting you on the ground.

Real men DO NOT add water to whiskey. PERIOD.



Just kidding, I find a splash helps. I don't like my tongue getting to overstimulated and even numb from the alcohol. I'm more a rum man, though, but add water to rum also.

Arik,

There's a flaw in your thinking.

If you add too much water, simply add more booze.
And if you again need water and add a little too much,
then add more booze. And so on.

I just thought whisky tasted bad till I had it with water. But then again I don't drink because I don't enjoy the taste of any kind of booze and I will get sick after I get even a hint of a buzz. The most beers I ever had was 5 before tossing it back up. Two long Island teas and the same thing. LOL I could never be an alcoholic. I even gagged taking a 20% cough medicine. The doctor had to give me alcohol free cough syrup.

Don't be foolish. Just add more booze.

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Dick Burg

Ha! Good idea!!!!

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My all time favorite is Single Barrel Jack and I have found that the best way to sip it is to get a special ice cube tray that produces 2" X 2" X 2" ice cubes. Because they have less surface area than the same amount of ice made up by more of the smaller cubes they melt much slower. They do quickly cool down the drink but take a longer time to melt. They ever so slowly add a small amount of water but they do not melt fast which would water it down. Something along this order is what I am talking about.


Tovolo(R) King Cube Silicone Ice Tray in Red - Bed Bath & Beyond

i like to sip my crown royal neat.....

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There's nowt so queer as folk

Every so often, a Jamison's w/ice and a splash of water is downright refreshing.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Jamison's really?? I personally would not put out on a public forum I drank that stuff. NOW, maybe Bushmill's that's a different story.

I like polymer pistols too.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Must be one of those communists!!!!!
.

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It was that bobsled accident.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Since I live near the Willett distillery, it's possible to get whiskey the owner has picked out himself. Family Reserve is bottled unfiltered and at barrel strength. Plenty of good limestone water available to add as you like.

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As someone that has written a good bit about whisky, particularly single malts, I can say that a few drops of filtered water can release aromas and flavors that are otherwise hidden. Cask strength whisky is often so strong that it numbs the taste buds and you loose a good portion of the flavors. Try it yourself. Try your whisky neat, with a splash of filtered/distilled water, and at 60 proof and compare. Don't trust me.

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Who watches the watchers?

First CNN wants to take away my guns...........now they want to water down my whiskey. I need a safe space!!!!!!!!!

No serious whisky drinker would be without one!!

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

CNN???? You gotta be kidding!

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

I'll take a double Jameson's neat with an ice water back........

I like one of those 2" x 2" ice cubes in mine. Cools it down and just enough ice melt to take away the alcohol burn without over diluting it. But then I don't drink much. Straight is too harsh for me.

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Common sense isn't so common.

It goes with anything from coffee to KoolAid.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Bushmill's Black for Irish whiskey @ room temp. Knob Creek for bourbon, also room temp.

The best whiskey I've ever had was pure rye 'shine out of W. Virginia, a recipe handed down through a family from Revolutionary times. It is not produced commercially (wink!!! ) and is sometimes given as a gift to people outside the family. I was very lucky to have had the privilege. Clear as water and packs a punch, but soooo smooth and tasty that you don't realize how fast it kicks ya.

NEVER ice for good sippin' whiskey... all of the esters (flavors and aromas) aren't released. A small dribble of spring or good well water aids in their release. Most other whiskeys are just mixers for me.

Call me weird but I never drink whiskey cold. If adding water, it is just from the tap and never ice water. Adding an ice cube turn me off big time. Whiskey should be enjoyed at room temperature. When you chill down a liquor, that kills the flavor and it basically means you don't like the taste of what you are drinking.

I even feel the same way with vodka. I drink shots of it at room temperature, with pickles and rye bread or other such savories, as people do in Poland and Russia. Here in America, we get watered down tutti fruity vodka and only make mixed drinks and ice the hell out of them.

In those old countries, they still mainly drink vodka as was traditional, at room temperature (sometimes cold in restaurants and bars nowadays) in one shot and it has no sugar no tutti fruity juice just VODKA: i.e. ethanol and water! Best way for sure, the salty snacks are great with it and can kill any harshness.

But back to whiskey, yeah, no ice or cold water in the either.

But as for HOT, well I have been making hot buttered rums as a nightcap for the past few nights, getting it down pat. Might have to make a hot buttered rum thread!!

Once again I violate all the rules. Cheap, bargain priced "Canadian Whiskey" from the local liquor store. Ice from the freezer, and water out of the refrigerator charcoal filter.

In Thailand 1973-74 we couldn't afford expensive mix in the bars. Bring your own bottle, Ancient Age, was the cheapest at the NCO Club, $1.50 for a quart. Buy an ice bowl for 50¢, add ice to whiskey, add a little water, drink all night for $1. Cheap whiskey as an acquired taste like liver & onions (yuk) .

Fine whiskies are flavorful, but a waste of money on my burned out palate.

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S&WHF 366

What a magnet you are.

You have a habit of trying to rationalize or justify your behavior, likes, and/or dislikes to connisseurs or others of that ilk. Stop it. It's a waste of time, breath, bandwidth, and intellect. There's simply no need.

Besides, if I know you, you're sittin' there right now clutching an ice cold Busch in your hand.

Ok you talked me into it.I opened a bottle of Stagg jr 129 proof.I will try it straight my perferred method.Next I will try to open it up with a splash of water.Lastly I will try it with a ice ball.Of course after that much Stagg I will take a nap.

Clairvoyant, you are.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

One of my many talents.

Try dried salted fish. Goes good with vodka.......or beer

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you probably had bubble n squeak too.....

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There's nowt so queer as folk

Toad in the hole!

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Every New Year's Eve I put one ice cube in my Templeton Rye (two fingers), toast the outgoing year and the incoming year and sleep like a baby.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

If I drink, which I do, the preferred is Jack Daniels Single Barrel Silver Select also known as Single Barrel 100 proof (not available in the United States) with an ice ball. The next best thing is the Jack Daniels Single Barrel with an ice ball and a splash of bottled water. Jack now has out a line of Single Barrel called "Barrel Proof" Good whiskey but in small doses. I have also had the pleasure of sipping on both the Jack Daniel’s Sinatra releases at 90 proof they are excellent but not at the price point.
haescase60

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You want me to do what?

Interesting Thread. TGIF! Cheers.

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Always have to read the booze threads,Very interesting. I prefer Henry McKenna 10 yr old single barrel on ice. I find bourbon to have a much more interesting flavor profile than the Irish whiskeys.

Bourbon and branch with a little ice on a cool south Texas November evening around a mesquite fire. It don't get no better than that, especially if you are talking about absent companions and guns.

Love a good single malt-Balvienie Double Cask is one of my favorites. Believe it ir not a splash of water does indeed "open it up" so to speak. Just use good bottled spring water. As far as power drinking, well I like Dewars for that and I DON'T add water-I add club soda as I like it when the bubbles tickle my nose

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Forum consigliere

Never happen here as proper gin martinis are what go down.

Given that most bottled banded whiskey sold in the US is 80 proof (40% alcohol ABV). The rest is guess what? Water! So more than half the bottle is water anyway, what's a tiny bit more.

Besides anything but single malt scotch at least 18yo is swill anyway.

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NRA Benefactor

Now I know I don't need to throttle the bartender who sells me watered whisky.

Best bourbon I ever tasted was Booker's 130 proof. It has a nice nutty taste, and doesn't seem all that strong. Can't find it in the stores, though.

I am more likely to drink rye, though. Overholt over store ice, not made with tap water, in a plastic Rally mug was my staple camping beverage for years. Otherwise, Bulleit or Templeton, although I recently picked up a bottle of Canadian Club 100% Rye which I am enjoying quite a bit, at a very palatable price. That is one I don't see on the shelves often.

For Irish, I will sip Tullamore if I can have my way.

For vodka, I have a bottle of Russkiy Standart in the freezer. I like that with pickles and smoked trout or salmon. My pop taught me to make a savory parfait with sour cream over ikkrah, with a spiky portion of Pik-Nik shoestring potatoes. Goes well with the frosty vodka.

Out to dinner, I will often have a martini or two, Bombay, or Citadelle, if they have it.

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Not in jail.

First time I heard anything about vodka and sour cream.

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George Dickel Barrel Select in my favorite glass, no ice, no chaser needed. Jack Daniels is for the tourists.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

I like a good single malt scotch or Paddy's Irish whiskey neat, Johnny Walker Black with a tiny bit of water, and bourbon on the rocks.

My pallet is not as sophisticated as y'all's.
A jigger of Two Stars and a half jigger of ice cold mineral water is my choice of poison.