120 to 80 proof?

[gordontaos]

At a formal whisky tasting with Charles Maclean, a founding editor of Whisky Magazine, we were required to taste all of the whiskys at 20% alcohol by volume. Since many scotchs are 80 proof, or 40% abv, that required mixing the room temperature spring water 50/50 with the whisky in order to be able to identify all of the flavor and aroma nuances. My favorite quote of Maclean's was when he was asked what his favorite scotch was. His reply was "the one thats in my hand." I have to agree.
The next morning, at yet another formal whisky tasting, in the board room of the Strathisla Distillery, Master Blender Colin Scott also required a 20%abv mix.
However, those were formal tastings. As Colin Scott said... "some people like their whisky neat, some with water, or soda, or milk, or coke, or lemonade, or soda. The main thing is... drink it."
So I guess my advice is to try your whisky with varying amounts of water, or not, down to 20% abv, and then decide where you personally like it.
After all, there are no "Scotch Police".

[Duke of Delrio]

The one and only thing you absolutely need to do with Scotch of any proof is to be sure to hit the hole in the top of the glass. After that, suggestions of temperature, mixers, or anything else amount to suggestions . . . and nothing more. Oh, and always lift the glass with your right hand or you will ruin everything!

[ForresterModern]

There are actually several scientific papers on the hows and whys of adding water to Scotch and what it does.
http://blog.khymos.org/2007/06/03/ne...sky-and-water/

Thanks, Artificer, I have read them and, being in the science/medicine field myself have no difficulty comprehending their science. But IMHO adding water does exactly one thing to whisky--dilute it--and if I wanted diluted whisky I would buy it that way or dilute it myself, but I don't, so I won't. My choice. Tried it and did not like it as well, so no sense wasting effort on trying to convert me.

I have nearly 80 bottles of single malt whisky (probably 70 different brands or vintages) and enjoy them all in their natural state as that is the way I learned to and have enjoyed doing so for more than 15 years. Probably 6-10 of those are cask strength, and are more like a fine thoroughbred, fiesty and strong headed, for a reason, and I assume that reason is why they were bottled at that strength rather than diluted down with the standard fair. Most of the cask strengths are secondary bottlings of single casks or small cask groups that are considered by the distillery's tasters to be different in some way from their standard, sometimes finer tasting and other times simply just not within the range of that particular distillery's accepted taste for batching into their single malt. Those are the casks that are plucked off the shelves and either sold in cask directly to individual purchasers, bottled cask strength by the distiller as a special release, sold to secondary bottlers (Select Malts, Gordon & MacPhail, Whyte & Whyte, etc.), or turned over to the blenders for inclusion in a blended variety in balance of some other simple or strongly flavored casks, possibly or probably from a different distiller altogether.

I have tried cask strength single malts from Glenlivet (whyte& whyte bottling) that were clear as water but magnificent on the tongue, from Macallan (Signatory bottling) that was as dark as molasses but brilliant, Mortlach (Provenance bottling) that was smooth with a bite finish, sherry-finished Alerlour 14 from a single cask I bottled myself at the distillery during a tour, Auchentoshan 25 (Signatory bottling) that had the full flavor and bite of and Islay rather than the smooth lightness of its typical lowland origins-----all originally distilled at the respective distilleries of the more commonly seen single malts of the same name, but special or different individual casks that did not taste as expected when it came time to bottle them, so they did not make it into the standard Glenlivet 12 or Macallan 12 we see on our liquor shop shelves, instead finding their way into special bottlings, and definitely not tasting the same as any of their original distilleries would have expected.

Cask strengths are not for the timid or for those who are settled on a favorite brand, as they are an adventure all their own. Others may enjoy theirs with a sprig of spring or branch water (the distilleries will tell you a particular whisky responds best to the addition of a few drops to a teaspoon of the same water it was distilled from). But I choose purity--if a particular flavour is there I will find it, given time for it to rest across my palate and tongue, without adding anything to it.

One man's choice. I would not speak to what another might or might not enjoy.

j

[artificer]

Thanks, Artificer, I have read them and, being in the science/medicine field myself have no difficulty comprehending their science. But IMHO adding water does exactly one thing to whisky--dilute it--and if I wanted diluted whisky I would buy it that way or dilute it myself, but I don't, so I won't. My choice. Tried it and did not like it as well, so no sense wasting effort on trying to convert me.
...

One man's choice. I would not speak to what another might or might not enjoy.

j

No worries here, just pointing out the science to those who may simply believe the addition of water to be mumbo-jumbo with no scientific basis.

At least one of the papers sums things up by saying that certain flavours will be released but others will be muted by the addition of water. So it may be a mixed bag and vary GREATLY from whisky to whisky.

Again, I personally add about only the tiniest bit (usually less than a teaspoon), but I'd certainly NEVER tell someone how to drink their Scotch... Although I might inwardly cringe if I see soda, rocks, etc, etc anywhere near the good stuff

[piperdbh]

Adding water to whisk(e)y is one of the final steps in making moonshine/corn/white liquor. It's called tempering, and is/was done by a master who had learned the skill from another master. What one does when one adds a little water to one's whisk(e)y is small-scale tempering.

Here's another question:
How much Scotch does one pour in one's glass at a time?

[Lallans]

I am in the camp with Coz Forrester on this issue, or at least started there, but a few experiments seemed to suggest that adding a few drops of water does release some flavours that are not otherwise available. So I've taken to rinsing the glass with water before pouring the good stuff. OTOH, I've sampled some extraordinarily expensive whiskys at Vintages and they never do offer a side of water, and when I ask it comes from the tap, so I take it that most tasters do not ask for it.

Diluting down to a certain standard proof strength, now surely that's going too far. A drop or two of H2O to get it wet is sufficent.

[Lallans]

Adding water to whisk(e)y is one of the final steps in making moonshine/corn/white liquor. It's called tempering, and is/was done by a master who had learned the skill from another master. What one does when one adds a little water to one's whisk(e)y is small-scale tempering.


Here's another question:
How much Scotch does one pour in one's glass at a time?

People I knew who drank 'shine measured it by the water glass, sometimes per hour. With pricier beverages I go for a taste, so small quantities are the rule. I'm talking half a capful as it were. Talking about this drives some people crazy, but my point is that if I want a buzz I don't go for the 40 yr old, that's for sure.

[Peregrine]

I'm fortunate in having had the opportunity to try 100+ single malt scotches, and with very rare exception I prefer my scotch neat, including cask strengths. In fact, Macallan Cask Strength is one of my favorite scotchs. While it obviously has a higher alcohol content, I can't bring myself to water down that wonderful caramel malt characteristic.

[Macman]

I do what Turpin does; my palate was never able to take cask strength. I do a dribble of water with my 40-43% ABV malts, which, of course, have all been watered down prior to bottling. The responses on this thread have piqued my interest, though, and I just might have to try my Glenfarclas 105 neat tonight!

[gordontaos]

For what its worth, the way whisky is made to be 80 proof...is by adding water.