Branch water.

It's all a matter of perspective. Does water make whiskey taste better... No

BUT - a little whiskey sure does make water taste a whole helluva lot better...

Whisky makes water taste better.

The key seems to be that the study did focus on 'better' whiskeys - stating they had to be 50% alcohol or more.

Try it with most 80-proof concoctions, and even a drop dilutes it too much.

Will you have whiskey with your water
Or sugar with your tea
What are these crazy questions
That they're asking of me
This is the craziest party
That there ever could be
Oh, don't turn on the light
'Cause I don't want to see


Three Dog Night

I tasted some cask-strength Belle Meade on Saturday, and a small(and I mean small, like a spoonful) splash of filtered water really brought it to life. It also cut down on the big blast of alcohol that sometimes overpowers cask-strength whiskeys.

In liqour that is at cask strength (usually over 95-100 proof) the alcohol burn overpowers the flavors in the drink.  Adding water to liquor is like adding salt to food in that you can always add more, but once added, you can't take it out.  Cask strength liquor is easy to dilute to a reasonable drinking strength.  Different people prefer different strengths, so starting at cask strength allows more options to more people.

Liquor that is too cold, also makes it harder to smell and taste the underlying flavors and scents.  So my preference is starting with cask strength, then adding enough water to dilute it to drinkable strength, and having it cold, but not damned near frozen.   Some people store tequila, gin, vodka in their freezer, and while OK for mixed drinks, it isn't good for sipping liquor.

French oak aged plum or berry brandy at 120 proof makes for a very nice sipping drink when it gets diluted down to around 90-95 proof.

I look at it the same as grape juice. Water makes grape juice concentrate taste better but if you water it down too much it loses flavor. Cask strength whiskey is super flavorful but add a little water and it will taste better.

Flint water really does wonders

"I sat down to have some Booker's with Booker.  He added water, I didn't.   He was right."

- Charles Cowdery

You know how I know that you don't drink good whiskey.........

When the bulk of us are talking about adding water to whiskey or bourbon etc its measured in a couple of drops at a time.

J-

Does dumping whiskey in a cup of coffee count? Good for a sore throat and such.

Distillers have found that the optimum proof for tasting is 80. Adding room temperature water will lower the proof of whiskey while retaining all of taste qualities. Adding cold water(ice cubes) will lower the proof and dampen the taste of whiskey.

No added water for me

I go both ways. Especially on cask strength stuff I will add some.  I also enjoy a 1/2 piece of ice to taste the whiskey though a range of temperature.  Start sipping immediately after the ice to taste full strength room temp, continue on to slightly chilled, then the water releases to open the whiskey first chilled then as it warms absolutely the best way to enjoy it through the various tastes it has to offer.  I'm sitting here right now having one neat because this particular bourbon is lighter in taste similar to a basil hayden. I don't think there is one correct answer but I do like ice for the reason mentioned above also something like bookers requires a tsp of water to properly taste it.  


Oh and currently I'm sipping on Yellowstone select bourbon as suggested by my local liquor provider.

It's already diluted enough straight from the bottle.