Dilution of cask whisky

@Erlend, welcome to Connosr! You do whatever you like with dilution. Most people here will tell you to try the whisky first undiluted. Many, but not all, will also suggest then trying it with a couple of drops of water. If you want more water beyond that, feel free to experiment with it.

48% abv is pretty middle of the road in alcohol content. Some go way above 70% abv, eg old undiluted American whiskeys.

Do it the way that YOU like it. Cheers!

Thank you very much, Victor. I did try it diluted ca 4+1 first, and it was really nice. Tomorrow I will follow your advice and do some testing. Cheers!

Another thing is what else to put in the mouth. I had the Whiskeyexperience of my life so far at Crete two weeks ago. Paul at Whisky Bar in Kokkini Hani guided us trough Scotland with 12 whiskys. It was really great. We got water and some salty peanuts and chips too, and we were breathing seabreeze at this beachlocated bar.. My guess is that Whisky improves with fresh seabreeze, and some salty snacks.

@Erlend,...and with good company!

@Erlend; What @Victor Said. A small teaspoon makes a good measure, say, starting with a couple of spoons of water to about 2oz. of whisky, then work your way down (or up). Try different waters - We have found that a proprietary bottled water called 'Pure Rain' really does make a difference; and it is gathered rain!

Cheers and Good Luck!

Thank´s Victor and A'bunadhman. Good company to accompany good Whisky is really great. Get´s me in a fantastic mood! The thing about water was a very important input. It changes my plans for the weekend. I will go to a very special well in the mountain with exceptional waterquality. It is worth a try.

@Erlend: Absolutely! Most tap water is chlorinated and often has fluoride added - It may taste OK out of the tap, but for fine whisky you can do better. Take a clean glass, clean glass jar (a gallon will last for years), some Whisky and have fun. If you're tasting small amounts, a drinking straw is a good measure and with a finger over the end you will be able to dispense drops - My small coffee spoon holds about a dozen drops.

It's probably worth noting that I take water seriously; some would say I'm 'anal' but, I subscribe to the notion that, if it tastes better, it is better! BTW, your Pure Water (in a clean glass container), will not go off, ever.

Good Luck.

Welcome to the team @Erlend! You're absolutely right, salty snacks most definitely go well with many whiskies. Personally, I enjoy dark chocolate with some sherried whiskies and recently, with some bourbons as well. A personal favourite of mine is Meiji Black Chocolate and Glenfarclas 15... ; )

@Erlend - Thank you for the kind greeting. I am curious to read your comments about mountain well water and its influence on the whiskey. For many years I too mixed water with my whisky (Canadian) about 1/3, something I picked up from my father; now I rarely add any.

Coincidentally, I was showing my children a photo album this morning which contained many pictures from the 1952 Winter Olympiad in Oslo - my father played ice hockey. When I saw your post it brought a smile to my face.

Welcome to connosr. A toast to your arrival with one of my favourite Canadians - Wiser's Legacy 2010 bottling.

Thank you , all of you ,for a nice welcome here!

I was in the hills of Valdres (840 meters altitude) this weekend, and I did carry home 14 litres of wellwater to my whisky. I traveled with my lady, my mother and my Balvenie. The Balvenie and we did enjoy the smooth water. I think the Balvenie 14 year Golden Cask is a supersmooth and delicious whisky with a clean soft sweet taste. I and my lady did stop at a nice cafe on the way home. They had a very good Cappuchino, and we added a bit Balvenie. I was surpised. The Balvenie taste and smell did dominate the coffe . I did come trough in a very clear , distinct way. I had never in my life expected so nice coffe/whisky experience. I felt a bit bad, polluting a superwhisky with coffee, but tasting the coffe, I felt I did the right thing. I was surprised that the Balvenie Golden Cask was able to hold its Identity in that cup of coffee.

No I am at home, and testing some whisky at home. With a new curiosity I tasted the Black label Johnnie Walker, The Bowmore 12 year, and the Chivas Regal 12. Johnnie is very good, Chivas was good but not so interesting as Johnnie. The Bowmore is to peaty to me.

I made my own blend. 1 part Chivas Regal 12 yeas and one part Bowmore 12 which to me is tasting better than each of these two alone. I also added five drops of my superwater.

Cheers!

@Erlend wow! 14 liters of water would last me a lifetime. I normally use a small teaspoon of water in my Whisky just to open it up. Except for cask strength bottling a, then I use up to 3 of 4.

Making your own blend is really nice. You can not only experience new flavors or combinations. But you can also finish a bottle you don't really like in a tasteful or educational way, just like your Bowmore.

Funny enough we both 'disliked' the Bowmore 12y, but for completely different reasons. For you it was to smokey, but for me it was not peaty enough. Shows how much personal taste can differ greatly. That's why you should really experiment for yourself how much water you should add for your personal liking.

(But beware, before you know it your stuck with the Whisky virus, haha)

@wtrstrnghlt I think we will drink some mountainwater along with the Whisky and not only add it in Whisky. I am a beginner to Whisky, I do not think I have tasted more than 10 or 20 litres trough all times, and the mild tasteful cherrytype Whisky pleases me directly. I do not smoke. I wonder, the smokewhisky, is it most popular among smokers? Or is it a taste that gets more and more interesting after several different whiskys are enjoyed? I am not very good in english, but is smoke and peat the same taste?

@Erlend - try some - it is a different experience, as different as cooking on a charcoal BBQ is to pan frying or oven roasting your favourite meats or fish. Malts are fascinating and not meant to be discriminating. What we learn from one expression, or regional style, enhances the experience with another.

...@Erlend, you asked "but is smoke and peat the same taste"? Yes and no is the answer...some also call it a phenolic taste.

@paddockjudge I am an ex-smoker and still smoke occasionally, but the first time I tasted a peated Whisky I wasn't sure what to think of it. Is was an overwhelming new taste and I didn't know wether to like or dislike it. The taste was in my mind for a couple of days and only until I tasted it again I could decide that I really liked it. I do have to mention this was Laphroaigh 10y though, a heavy iodine peated Whisky.

As @paddockjudge said, peat and smoke are related. I think you can say peat is a type of smoke. But then you also have different types of peat flavors in Whisky, like medicinal, iodine or more farmy menure. Pfff so many flavors, I hope I say all of this correctly.

I also agree that it's good to try as many types of Whisky possible. If only to find out what I like or dislike in a Whisky.

Comment was an answer to @erlend of course. Typing and selecting on a phone doesn't always work that wel...

@wtrstrnghlt Thanks, Your tastehistory, it looks like you went from unsure about like /dislike peat to a distinct peat-lover? Reminds me of myself and coffee. The first cup was not very pleasing, but later I began to like it.

Conclusion: I think I shal give the Bowmore 12 yo. more time, maybe it will please me more after some light-peat whisky. I had problems of getting grip on underlying tastes. I guess they are there, but that they for an untrained peatconsumer is hard to discover under the dominating peat. Johnnie W Black L has a very thin peat-accent that I like.

@Erlend exactly, your comparison to coffee is spot on!

@Erlend: There are a couple of Whiskies that are a magnificent introduction to peat smoke namely, that Giant 'Highland Park 18yo.' which I would call 'gently peated' and 'Ardmore Traditional', which is a 'lightly peated' Whisky and a fine 'drop' - There are others, of course but these serve as a great intro. without giving you a peat blast!

You didn't give any specifics about the mountain water! Is it noticeably better? Does the Whisky have a more attractive mouth-feel with a little water added? Does it talk to you in a softer voice?

Keep your water in the dark; the same cool dark type of space you store your bottle(s) of Whisky.

Cheers and good Luck.

@A'bunadhman . I think the water gave the whisky a smoother, cleaner taste. Maybe it melted more on the tounge.

@A'bunadhman I think I shal test both Oslo and mountainwaterdilution next weekend, side by side, to give a more presice answer.

@Erlend: You seem to be doing OK! That's a nice lot of water; keep it in glass, in the dark and it will stay fresh and sweet!

Slainte.

If you would like to try something a little smoky, you might try that Ardmore Traditional Cask, although it's a little bitter at first for about a month after being opened. It's reasonably priced and not bad. I also like Caol Ila 12 year mixed with sweeter whiskies. Two of my favorites to mix it with are Highland Park 12 and Glenfarclas 12. Mix to taste. Skal! I have relatives from Iceland and some of them are Norwegian, distantly removed, of course. Blending your whiskies according to your personal taste is quite smart. There is nothing wrong with that! I do it all the time. One of my latest blends is Longrow Gaja Wood and Glenfarclas 12. It's quite good and it will help the expensive Gaja last longer! I tend to blend a less expensive whisky with a more expensive, but not always. Another nice one to mix is Ardbeg Uigeadail. It mixes quite nicely with Glenfarclas 12. I also blend "sherry bombs" with Glenfarclas 12 with Glenfarclas 105. It's dynamite! You can stretch out the 105 to last through about four inexpensive bottles of the regular 12 year. One quarter 105 and three quarters regular 12 year is really quite a nice sherried whisky. The 105 brings out some natural sherriness in the 12 year.

@A'bunadhman About mountainwater. I tried to do a ok test yesterday.

This well is lokated at 850meters altitude on the side of a 880 high ridge. It is surronded by a marshes, cloudberries, blueberry, dwarf birch and spruce trees. From the well starts a tiny creek.

I had a tad better citywater this time, from Aurevann at 276 meter altidude in the forest North of Oslo, transported in tubes about 20 kilometer. This had no detectable clortaste, but more tastes, with a very tiny hint of to old meat. Only detectabel because I compared.

The mountainwater tasted absolutely fresh and clear, and maybe with a slight hint of marsh.

We tasted this with two Balvenies, 14 yo Golden Cask (47,5%alcohol), and the 12 yo Doublewood (40%a). The huge difference were how the water did mix. Golden Cask was ca 6 parts of whisky and 1 with water. The Doublewood was diluted ca 12 and one.

The difference: With mountainwater the Whiskies blended seamless, and the cityforestwater did not. The cityforestdrink tasted like whisky with some water, and the mountaindrink tasted like whisky, but softer than not diluted whisky.

The citywater added some roundness and complexity. The Mountdrink was more clear and distinct, but very smooth and kind of melting on the tounge.

More about mountaindiluted. The Colden Cask was very clear and smooth and maybe with some cloudberrylike taste. The Double Wood tasted more oak and sherry.

This mountainwater is highly recommended, especially with tha Golden Cask. I think it brings out more of the cloudberryfeeling in Golden Cask, and makes it more clean. I am trained in your ratings, but I would guess that Golden Cask would score 95 with mountainwater and 80 with cityforestwater. The cityforestwater does slightly pollute it and steals some clarity (a bit boring), while the mountainwater is playing along , and gives it distinctness, character and elegance.

@Erlend Correcture:I ment to write that I am NOT trained in the ratings. Another error was that I once wrote "mountwater", should have been "mountainwater"

If your "mountain water" tastes of marsh, then don't use it in your whisky unless you buy a proper filter. Avoid water that's been bottled in plastic. It's total junk for your body and for your whisky. Ditto with fluoridated water.

So-called "fluoride" in water is nothing more than industrial waste from the fertilizer industry. It's not anywhere near pharmaceutical grade. It's junk and chock full of toxins. People who drink fluoridated water every day and shower in it are victims. It's really that simple. And why?

Well, that's obvious. For the health care industry to make money on things like cancer. The healthcare industry in America is a sham and the AMA is riddled with cronyism. Yes, most doctors are clueless about the problem and yes most doctors are pretty much idiot savants when it comes to thinking for themselves as opposed to taking orders from textbooks and their superiors. Multiply that variable double for dentists. Don't pour water that smells of a swamp into your whisky. You can buy a Berkey Water Filter online.

There are dozens and dozens of adequate filters to clean up water that smells or tastes bad; however, cleaning out toxins from the fertilizer industry is another matter. Good luck with that, reverse osmosis et al. We here in Oregon defeated the ogres of health care who wanted to fluoridate the water in the name of saving poor kid's teeth. talk about a "red herring." Good gracious. Now some Ash-Can-Nazi from New York's Mt. Sinai Medical Center is trying to cover our reservoirs in the name of protecting our water from terrorists. What is this world coming to? Goldberg go home! Leave our water alone, you corrupt "Old World Disorder" Yes Man! It will double our rates, make our water taste like mold, and line your pockets with "gold." Go back to your "Mountain of Gold" in New York, the most corrupt city in America.

The Scottish were smart enough to vote down water fluoridation. They ripped out the fluoridation facilities and now their water is clean again. If only the rest of the world were as smart as the Scottish on this all important issue, then there would be far fewer cases of cancer, Alzheimer's, and various and sundry cases of autism, etc., etc. Yes, so-called "fluoride" in water really is that bad. And it's absolutely horrible to put in your scotch. Don't do it!

@rigmorole Taste of Marsh, is that good or bad? I Think it depends of the Marsh, and this water is legendary and this well is considered to be the best in the area. If the marsh tastes bad, it is tasting bad. This marsh is extremely fresh. I must say that this water has a lot cleaner taste than other water I had tasted, but it has something. I am not sure if marsh is a correct word here. I will not say cloudberry either, but you can almost sense the cloudberry in the neighbourhood. But I think filtering is a good idea.

@Erlend The Golden Cask, in the hills of Valdres. :) foto.no/linkeddata/diskusjon/…

@Erlend @Victor I agree with Victor totally. The one way i would differ is that if you just drink your whisk(e)y undiluted you are doing yourself a major disservice. You could discover many flavors that a little water would bring out. On the other hand, if you just drink you whiskey diluted you will never know how it was presented to you in the bottle, and there are many unique flavors lost once water is added.

Speaking of cask whiskey im sure everyone has heard about the new Stagg Jr.?

buffalotracedistillery.com/brands/stagg-jr/