620910 Mon May 18 18:10:47 -0700 2009 10 36 Spirits 0 4695686 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124242619283025137.html I must admit, I do still drink a good scotch on the rocks about 50% of the time. But the flavor experience is certainly superior when drinking it neat. Mon May 18 18:10:47 -0700 2009 42572 Eat_Nopal 1 4695744 i like a side of ice so i can drop a piece in every so often. i find that the water Opens Up the flavors of pretty much any distilled spirit. but that's just me, i could be wrong. Mon May 18 18:35:06 -0700 2009 4695686 12603 ScubaSteve 1 4696242 A good article. Most American whisky lovers I know, myself included, started by drinking on the rocks. As the article notes, that's how we take our drinks in the US. For me, there came a point where I was continually trying to get more flavor out of the glass and realized the ice was getting in the way, so I ended up going neat, and once you go neat, you never go back...except on a really hot day, or maybe in a cocktail. Mon May 18 22:59:55 -0700 2009 4695686 10132 sku 1 4696529 Interesting... I've interviewed a lot of master distillers, and master blenders in the whisky trade, and they all have a different story. Some are 'neat', some like a splash of water, some like one cube- one (but just one so far) from a fairly well respected single malt distillery mixed his with ginger ale. But every one so far has said - "drink as you like it" which I take to mean "there is no wrong way". Everyone has a different mouth, different tastes... Tue May 19 05:58:38 -0700 2009 4695686 120112 legourmettv 1 4697413 I've always thought try it neat first, then try with water, and then add ice. But don't just add ice or water without tasting. And please if you are going to drink my single malts don't take as a shot or mix with soda. My dad usually drinks his scotch with ice or water because I likes it cool and enjoys crunching the "scotch flavored" ice at the end of his drink. I drink it neat because I usually drink scotch in the winter when I want something warm. Margaritas or G&T's in the summer when I want something cool and refreshing. Tue May 19 10:17:51 -0700 2009 4695686 14495 viperlush 1 4698574 I'm of the "little bit of water" school, often in the form of one or two cubes of ice, depending on the ice machine. I think it makes a big difference in the appreciation of a whiskey's (or whisky's) flavor. Clearly a glass full of ice and/or lots of water or seltzer is a bad idea, but I don't often see Americans drinking fancy single-malts that way. Blends, sure, but don't self-respecting single-malt lovers consider blended Scotch drinkers beneath contempt, regardless of what else goes in the glass? Put the snobbish attidtude on ice, and educate people. http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/ Tue May 19 16:28:09 -0700 2009 4695686 10143 MC Slim JB 2 4698625 I'm with you, and FWIW when I traveled to Scotland (and drank really a LOT of scotch) nearly every establishment served their single malts with a small pitcher of water and dish of ice to add to the scotch as you would. Tue May 19 16:50:06 -0700 2009 4698574 10669 Amuse Bouches 1 4698612 As was taught to me by Campbell Ritchie, owner of the Minmore House Hotel next to the Glenlivet Distillery, Ballindalloch, Scotland: a tall glass (for the nose), two ounces neat in the glass and a small pitcher of chilled local water on the side to sweeten as desired. That was August of 1985. My habit to this day. CP Tue May 19 16:43:46 -0700 2009 4695686 138009 Chefpaulo 2 4698705 Interesting... what shape of glass? I personally like an 8oz tumbler that is slightly tapered at the rounded base. Tue May 19 17:21:37 -0700 2009 4698612 42572 Eat_Nopal 1 4698697 Ev'buddy know thet good bourbon whisky have to have a bit of branch water. Tue May 19 17:19:25 -0700 2009 4695686 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 5056619 I was a neat drinker until I had a side-by-side demonstration of how a little cool water can release so much more in the way of taste and smell. Now I add just a few drops of water to get that extra burst without diluting anything. Thu Sep 24 18:57:58 -0700 2009 4695686 1111773 PeatPete