Whisky Stones
- Thread starter Dyson
- Start date
It makes a huge difference. you can actually see a little chemical reaction occurring in the glass once you add water and immediately you get hit with much more aromatics.
Yeah you can see the 'slick' in the spirit, makes a world of difference because I don't like peaty whiskies but when we were at the Annandale distillery near Dumfries I tried one neat and then with a dribble of water and it was like 2 very different whiskies.
Exactly - it’s like those sorts of whiskeys are too intense to enjoyably taste them. By adding water, and making it less intense, it becomes more enjoyably flavoursome rather than “this is so strong I can’t really taste anything other than ‘smokey whiskey’”.
Soldato
I suppose this is basically the bottom line. Do what you will with it for your personal preference in taste.
Caporegime
I find the giant balls of ice are a good compromise. They last a fair few rounds worth and don't melt so fast.
They last longer if it is completely clear (no air bubbles).
Soldato
Don't even want to know how quickly you're knocking it back to drink it fast enough for your drink to not be ruined using one of those!I find the giant balls of ice are a good compromise. They last a fair few rounds worth and don't melt so fast.
Man of Honour
+1
always thought the stones looked like a good way to scratch the glass and chip your teeth... also wouldn't fit in a Glencairn
Soldato
Whisky, like any drink, should be served however the hell you like it
You don't eat them
Soldato
This.
I've been on a few distillery tours and have always been told the same thing when tasting it: put in as much or as little water you like. It's intended to be enjoyed.
Having said that, I've never noticed any ice available at the tastings in a distillery.
Soldato
As a non whisky drinker I am going to refer to gin , but I find the same, in that adding a little water seems to improve it to me. I like to sip frequently rather than my other half who seems to gulp.
She will add tonic, and whilst I get some tonics are nice, (not the cheap rubbish), I find they mask the flavour.
Im going to go and see our beverage expert now, needed to talk to him anyway, and ask him about the chemical reaction of adding water mentioned above.
I know hes seriously into gin and whisky so interested in his view if this is technically possible
She will add tonic, and whilst I get some tonics are nice, (not the cheap rubbish), I find they mask the flavour.
Im going to go and see our beverage expert now, needed to talk to him anyway, and ask him about the chemical reaction of adding water mentioned above.
I know hes seriously into gin and whisky so interested in his view if this is technically possible
Associate
If you're ice is melting before finishing your whisky, you're drinking to slow.
Soldato
After doing a short stint in a well know wine warehouse, it was amazing to see just how different people's tastes are - I was very much in the camp of believing that most wine buyers are pretentious ****s; but generally changed my mind over time. Sure, there were a few customers who really were up their own ****, and would almost go out of their way to 'outsmart' the trained staff - but they were few and far between once I appreciated wine more.
Prior this stint, I would occasionally pick up a bottle of French Merlot and would sometimes enjoy it, and other times, grin and bear it - thinking that an £8 bottle should be decent enough. But after a while of working in a wine-based environment, I started to appreciate cheaper bottles of red, from other areas of the world - and slowly, moved completely away form the Merlot grape, and my go-to easy drinker became Malbec - either from Chile or Argentina.
My palate was never great though, so the fine wines were often lost on me - same with white, rose and champagne. But full bodied red wines became quite a journey, anything heavy and woody/smokey was a winner with me, as were some of the Spanish Riojas, and I absolutely love the "Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel" - yum yum yum! I still have a few bottles of that at home, along with a number of others I purchase when working in the warehouse.
I probably sound like a wine snob now
But it is actually a really interesting drink, so much variance in taste, and even more when you pair it with food!I have since moved onto whisky, and although I really cannot pick out the flavors that experts and fans report, I enjoy the subtle differences of the whiskys I have purchased over the last year or so - but I really dislike anything that is medium/heavy peated - it just tastes wrong to me; it tastes like a wine that has corked - like a wet leather sofa that's been in a fire before
Soldato
Ok so I now understand 
at a very high level for non technical people 
I was wrong and also right about the Whisky and gin. The effect is the same the reason is very different.
So Whisky and similar spirits. The flavour chemicals group together in the spirit form (the are free before distillation) and go into a low energy state in this grouping. These are chemicals that dont like being in water and hence why they group.
When you dilute the whisky these chemicals are forced to disipate and become free again and hence they are released more. Ice is no different to water in this respect (once melted).
Gin however is different. These groups do not form, but the flavour chemicals are dissipated.They also do not like being in water. If they have a high level of certain chemicals (sorry forget the name) then when you add water they can become cloudy/foggy. Same effect as you see in Ouzo. In this case they are grouping together due to the water. The net effect is however like Whisky in that adding the water means the chemicals will be more interactive with air.
I am glad i went to ask now. The science was mainly delved into about 30 years ago. Before that they kind of knew it happened but didn't really know why.
So TLDR Whisky will always release more flavour when watered
at a very high level for non technical people I was wrong and also right about the Whisky and gin. The effect is the same the reason is very different.
So Whisky and similar spirits. The flavour chemicals group together in the spirit form (the are free before distillation) and go into a low energy state in this grouping. These are chemicals that dont like being in water and hence why they group.
When you dilute the whisky these chemicals are forced to disipate and become free again and hence they are released more. Ice is no different to water in this respect (once melted).
Gin however is different. These groups do not form, but the flavour chemicals are dissipated.They also do not like being in water. If they have a high level of certain chemicals (sorry forget the name) then when you add water they can become cloudy/foggy. Same effect as you see in Ouzo. In this case they are grouping together due to the water. The net effect is however like Whisky in that adding the water means the chemicals will be more interactive with air.
I am glad i went to ask now. The science was mainly delved into about 30 years ago. Before that they kind of knew it happened but didn't really know why.
So TLDR Whisky will always release more flavour when watered
Soldato
Soldato
A dash of room temp water from the jug on the bar in proper real old fashioned pubs.
Caporegime
@Scort they literally all just taste like vinegar to me. Maybe I'm broken!