Single Malts: To water, or not to water?

Hi all, I'm new to this group and had a question I thought might be best suited for the experts (or just the serious drinkers) here.

I've always been a fan of scotch whisky, and have usually stuck with Johnny Walker Black or Glenfiddich over the years. Lately
I have been getting a little more serious about my scotch drinking and have really started to enjoy the single malts, especially the
Islay's like Laphroaig and Lagavulin...what flavor!

The question I have is regarding adding water. I always drink the single malts neat to get the full flavor. Somebody recently told me that the "right" way to drink a good single malt is with a few drops of water added to bring out the flavor. I have tried this with my current bottle of Lagavulin, but I don't really notice any significant flavor change. Is this watering the "proper' way to drink single malts, and are there some brands that are significantly effected by the few drops of water?

Also, does the drinking glass make much of a difference? I usually drink mine in a short square bar glass.

I'm not going to try to change your mind. For years I steadfastly refused to add water to any whisky, even cask strength whiskies.
With stronger whiskies I just took smaller sips. I felt there was nothing worse you could do to whisky than over water it. And some whiskies seemed to me to be dangerously close to over watered right out of the bottle. My first Ardbegs were Gordon & Macphails bottlings at 40% ABV and I couldn't help but wonder what they would have been like if they were bottled at a higher sttrength.

But consider also that a standard pour in much of Europe is 25ml, less than the ounce and a half we enjoy in the US, closer to an ounce, only half of a mini bottle. So a drop of water would make a bigger difference in a smaller amount of whisky.

Also, the general advice is to add a drop of water, taste, add another drop of water, taste, and so on until you have found the strength which is optimum for you. Many people who do add water will add more than a single drop. The idea of adding drops one at a time is to avoid adding too much.

I've come to appreciate a little water in some whiskies, though certainly not all of them. If you keep experimenting you may find you like a little water in some, especially some cask strength whiskies. And if you don't, then certainly you should drink your dram the way that pleases you.

I treated myself this xmas by purchasing a bottle of Bruichladdich 15.
Inside the metal packaging tube is a little promo booklet describing some of B` laddies other expressions. The distiller recommends the ideal volume of water for each.

10 yo- up to 100%(yikes!!!)

15yo- up to 50%

17yo- up to 50%

20yo- 5%(a dash)

Vintage 1970- between 5 and 10%

1966 Legacy- a drop

B`laddies stated guidline is: The older the whisky(or the more sherried)is, the less water is required to open it up. I wonder if this is for all single malts, or just for Bruichladdich?

By the way, the 15 year old was the first `Laddie I`ve tried, and I can truly see why this dram is so lauded. Delicious.

Scott Helesic
Kingston, Ontario

"The Internet: A vanity press for the deranged." -Erik-Lars Nelson

I guess I'm really interested to find out if there are certain types, or brands, that taste better with the "angels tears" than others.

I'm not going to try to change your mind. For years I steadfastly refused to add water to any whisky, even cask strength whiskies.
With stronger whiskies I just took smaller sips. I felt there was nothing worse you could do to whisky than over water it. And some whiskies seemed to me to be dangerously close to over watered right out of the bottle. My first Ardbegs were Gordon & Macphails bottlings at 40% ABV and I couldn't help but wonder what they would have been like if they were bottled at a higher sttrength.

But consider also that a standard pour in much of Europe is 25ml, less than the ounce and a half we enjoy in the US, closer to an ounce, only half of a mini bottle. So a drop of water would make a bigger difference in a smaller amount of whisky.

Also, the general advice is to add a drop of water, taste, add another drop of water, taste, and so on until you have found the strength which is optimum for you. Many people who do add water will add more than a single drop. The idea of adding drops one at a time is to avoid adding too much.

I've come to appreciate a little water in some whiskies, though certainly not all of them. If you keep experimenting you may find you like a little water in some, especially some cask strength whiskies. And if you don't, then certainly you should drink your dram the way that pleases you.

Generally speaking, one drop of water will not change the presentation of a dram. That said, there are a subset of people who are classified as "super tasters". These folks have a much higher density of tastebuds and olfactory receptors than the average folks do. Their ability to detect minuscule variations and tastes in some cases as low as parts per million is well documented. But not everyone is a super taster. Many, though, can train their palates to be more responsive. It can be as simple as just paying attention.

The addition of water to a spirit can and does alter the presentation of the spirit. In some cases, it allows volatiles to be more readily released (and dissipated). In others it allows more flavor and less alcohol to be enjoyed. To others, it provides a watery experience. It is personal, and that is what makes exploring malt so fun. 10 people trying the same malt at the same time can have 10 different experiences.

Me? There are some cask strengths that I like to add a splash to.
Others I do not. I've a bottle of 31 year old Caperdonach at cask strength that is just too rich and syrupy when drunk neat in a Riedel glass. I take the same dram and add a splash (a tablespoon? of still water) and the caramel and fruit are still there, but the heaviness is gone and I have a rather ethereal dram to savor. I *like* it that way. OTOH, I have some cask strength Lagavulin that needs nothing (okay, it needs a bowl of GLP Odyssey pipe tobacco in a largish bent billiard to play counterpoint).

I guess my point is to not listen to what anybody tells you that you should like. Find out for yourself and smile.

Well, at least I didn't imagine it! But I teleported you a few few thousand miles. I should pretend I tried to find it on Google and couldn't, but the truth is just that I remembered it because it struck me as rather funny when I first read it. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

or brands, that taste better with the "angels tears" than others.

It's completely hit-or-miss. If a whisky is a bit 'tight', and a few drops seems to liberate the bouquet, so to speak, then the few drops are helpful.
But you can have two whiskies from the same distillery, in different versions, and one might seem to benefit, and the other might not.

And, to be brutally frank, as diluting liquid goes, there is already plenty where the whisky is going to get put anyways.

Thanks for saying that. I tend to like Oban on the rocks as well...and I'll settle for Johnnie Walker on the rocks if the bar
I'm at doesn't have any better scotch.

However, I still love Lagavulin or Laphroaig neat, to get the full smoky and peaty flavor.

Just opened a US Macallan cask strength and find it a bit too "strong" as is. It's not too smoky or too peaty, just too strong -- whatever that means. Feels too heavy. Tried a drop or two of water, which helped a bit. Any suggestions out there? I'm afraid I'll run out of whisky 'fore I get the mix right.

I've had scotch-and-soda. The best thing I'd say about it is that

there were a few posts about whisky and lemonade, even whisky and milk! Quoting now from memory, a poster once told the story of a woman ordering scotch and ginger ale in a bar in Scotland, to which the bar tender asked with obvious disdain but without skipping a beat,
"In the same glass?..."

But water and whisky is an old tradition, not just a "fad". There must be something to it for the habit to be so widespread. And as
I said before I occassionally add water to whisky, though it took me some years to see any point in it and I don't regularly add water as a matter of course. If you don't like it, you shouldn't do it. You can achieve some of the same effects simply by taking smaller sips, or by having a glass of water on the side - a "water back" as the bartenders say.

You're welcome. I read your other post and let me add this:
Brett is a long time poster, quite knowledgible, and a genial enough fellow if a little terse. But while I might find him
"terse" he may find me "wordy". Don't be quick to take offense;

amazingly so by comparison to many USENET groups. Chalk it up to a bad day. Or just getting off on the wrong foot.
People have different opinions, and on the subjects we discuss most frequently you're safe in considering *everything* just someone's opinion. Including my posts, of course.

That's an interesting quote.

Laphroaig has recommended adding twice as much water as whisky to their cask strength bottling - that's 200% - but I can't help think that any malt lover who followed their advice would be disappointed.

Still it's a matter of personal taste and preference.

A lot of silly things get put on back labels, boxes and advertisments. Whether the above is one of them is again a matter of personal taste.

However Bruichladdich is a tasty whisky. I haven't tried (or even seen) the 1970 yet. I recently did try the new
15yo and liked it very much, considerably more than the
10yo. I was fortunate previously to try a shot of the '66 at the local whisky bar - I could never afford a bottle - and it is an amazing very deep whisky. I can't do it justice in evaluating it because I've tasted so few whiskies in its price range. But I posted my amateur impression to

The general idea that older and sherried whiskies need less
"adjusting" seems to me to make sense. These are the whiskies that are more likely to be less spirity.

I was lucky enough to receive for Christmas the Bruichladdich first edition sample pack, consisting of 200ml bottles of the 10 y-o, 15 y-o, and the XVII. Looking forward to trying it. Also should be interesting to compare Jim McEwan's current 10 y-o version to the older version I have that came in the dark blue tube.

I have maybe 50 or 60 different shapes and styles of glassware in the cupboard. At least 20 of them are great for whisky.

Welcome to the conversation!

[snip]

Both of your questions are perennial topics on alt.drinks.scotch-whisky.

You can search the archives at
http://www.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO- 8859-1&q=alt.drinks.scotch-whisky

which are both entertaining and informative.