On Ice, and When It Is Permitted

I am asked about ice in whiskey more than any other subject, usually by people hoping I will validate a position they have already taken. I shall disappoint roughly half of you.

Ice is permitted. It is permitted when the day has been long, when the whiskey is young, when the room is hot, or when the alternative is not drinking the whiskey at all. A dram nobody enjoys is a failure regardless of how correctly it was served.

Ice is not permitted when the bottle cost more than a decent dinner and the cube in question came from a tray in the freezer door, where it has spent three months absorbing the flavor of frozen peas and old salmon. That cube will ruin a great whiskey and taste faintly of the sea while doing it.

If you use ice, use one large piece. Large ice melts slowly, which is the entire point. Small ice dilutes fast, which turns your whiskey into cold, weak whiskey, which is the drink nobody has ever ordered on purpose.

And should someone at your table announce that ice is never acceptable, pour them one anyway. Watch what happens.