Concerning Whiskey and the Question of Water

Adding water to whiskey provokes a reaction out of all proportion to the stakes, usually from men who have decided that self denial is the same thing as taste.

Water works, and there is a reason. A drop or two lowers the alcohol enough to release aromatic compounds that were locked up by the spirit, which is why the nose of a cask strength dram changes so dramatically after the smallest addition. This is chemistry, not opinion, and the distillers themselves do it while working.

The error is quantity. A splash is not a few drops. Pour water in from a jug and you have made weak whiskey, which is not a drink but an accident.

Use a pipette, or a spoon, or a wetted fingertip. Add two drops. Nose it. Add two more if it wants them. Stop the moment it opens, and note that on a forty percent bottling it may want nothing at all.

And if a man at the bar tells you water ruins whiskey, ask him what proof his dram is. The answer usually settles the matter without further discussion.