Adding water isn’t just for people who can’t stand the sting of a good whiskey. A little water could open up a world of flavor.
Mark Twain is credited with the coinage “Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over.” Given this observation, one might be hesitant to let the liquids share a glass, especially since opinions on the matter are often as hardline as Twain’s.
Don’t fret—according to some experts, the notion of adding water to whiskey amounts to little more than a tempest in a tumbler.
When judiciously applied, whiskey and water can play well together, explains Shawn Refoua, the creative force behind San Francisco Mixology, a company that provides behind-the-bar education and corporate team building events.
“Alcohol carries flavors. That’s one of the reasons why people use it for cooking—it amplifies and lengthens flavors,” he says. “Depending on the whiskey’s proof, it’s going express itself slightly differently.”
Generally speaking, the higher a whiskey’s proof, the stronger its flavor. When it comes to cask-strength whiskeys, which can be over 100 proof, this is particularly true. This level of potency, however, can obscure a whiskey’s subtler flavors, which is why a sprinkle of the wet stuff can mellow the heat and simultaneously release a whiskey’s more nuanced notes.
“When you put water in your whiskey, you’re going to get different things from it,” says Michael Griffo, co-owner and distiller of Griffo Distillery in Petaluma, CA. “Different molecules are at different solubilities, so when you water down your whiskey you’re going to pull out other flavors. If you like your whiskey really hot, you’re going to get a bunch of clove and those hotter spices, and when you water it down you’re going to get more oils coming through.”
These oils can contribute to a whiskey’s butteriness or even impart grassy notes, which water can mitigate.
“If you add an ice cube to it, you’re gonna change that flavor profile even more because you’re cooling down your beverage, and it closes it a bit. You’re not gonna get as many molecules evaporating off the top,” says Griffo. “It’s gonna really tighten it up.”
Introducing water to your whiskey, whether in its solid or liquid form, is a matter of personal preference. Etymologically speaking, the distinction between whiskey and water is negligible—the word “whiskey” is an anglicization of the Gaelic word for “water.”……….
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