Whiskey Stones?

I saw them at a crystal store once and seriously considered buying them. I realized that the majority of the whiskies I drink though, I drink at room temperature so I didn't bother buying them. I think whisky stones are great though if you enjoy cooling your whisky a little because they don't water down the whisky at all. I wonder though if they would somehow taint the flavour of the whisky though.

@michaelschout cooling whisky reduces the flavour - that's about as tainted as it gets! Would you chill a good Bordeaux? Why would you chill whisky, unless of course you don't like the taste?

Whiskey stones won't alter the taste at all. They are made of soapstone, which is a very dense, non-porous material. As far as temperature goes, 3 stones in 2 ounces generally lowers the temperature to about 55 degrees, which really opens it up nicely.

My assumption would be they'd do the opposite of opening it up. Like Hogshead says, wine has more flavour when it hasnt been chilled. Chocolate has more flavour when it's melted! I'd guess they're just for people who like their whisky cold but undiluted. Having said that, I've never tried using them.

@omalleysstones You make the stones so you would say that.

However it is a fact that chilling whisky reduces the aromatic profile. Just ask the great Jim Murray! Pour a whisky, smell and taste it, then, cover the opening of the glass with the palm of your hand and cradle the bottom with the other for a few minutes and then smell/taste the whisky once it reaches body temperature. The increased flavour profile is amazing.

Now pour a whisky, smell and taste it and then put it in the refrigerator for half an hour. Reduced nose and flavour, although it may taste more spirity. I'm not going to tell anyone how they should drink their whisky but if anyone offered me a chilled whisky I'd run them out of town.

Whisky stones are for people who don't like to taste their whisky. If that's the case for you why not stick to white wine spritzers!

Alas, reducing the temperature of whisky does not "open it up". It has the opposite effect, sorry Omalleysstones.

@omalleysstones I've never heard anyone referring to reducing the temperature of whisky as something that would "open up" the flavour. I'm firmly in the warming the whisky camp.

Someone mentioned the parallels with wine. With white wine the generally accepted advice is that the better the quality of the wine the less you would chill it.

To each their own. Just wanted to let michaelschout know the material itself would not change the flavor. When talking about ideal temperature, usually it is related to the area where the whiskey is made. For instance, room temperature for scotch is in the 55- 60 degree range. Brandy is definitely meant to be warmed.

I got a set of these for xmas a couple years ago. They do exactly what they say, reduce the temperature of the whisky without diluting it. And while I generally agree with the other commenters, I still find that, for some whiskies (chiefly barrel strength (60% abv) bourbons), this can be a nice effect. However, my biggest problem with them is that is difficult to drink with them still in the glass. They are cubical and quite heavy, which makes them shift awkwardly and forcefully in the rocks glass as you tilt it. The safer option for your front teeth is to let them sit for a few minutes and then pluck them out with tongs just prior to the first sip. But then obviously their effect diminishes over time. I think a better idea would be a special rocks glass with a soapstone insert in the base that could be removed and refrigerated.

@omalleysstones Understood. I think whiskey stones are a million dollar idea (when it comes to income potential), they just don't go over well in this community because it's more of an elitist community made up of people who REALLY know what they're talking about when it comes to whiskey and of people who are willing to learn the proper ways to do things so as to achieve the best whiskey experience possible. As the title of this site says, we are connoisseurs.

@omalleysstones you say "room temperature for scotch is in the 55- 60 degree range" - surely room temperature is room temperature and not dependent on the drink you're consuming. I know my rooms don't cool down depending on which drink I pour! If my house was 55-66 degrees I'd be calling my heating engineer. Wikipedia defines room temperature at 68-84 which is quite different to your claim. And we all know Wikipedia is never wrong ;)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

Surely the soap stone will make the Coke go flat? ;)

@omalleysstones you say "When talking about ideal temperature, usually it is related to the area where the whiskey is made. For instance, room temperature for scotch is in the 55- 60 degree range." Is that because it's colder in Scotland than say the Cognac region? Does that mean your stones aren't much use for whiskey made in Tennessee or Kentucky?

Just offering an answer to a question. Will whiskey stones impart an undesirable taste? The answer is no.

@omalleysstones Looks like we're going to have to agree to differ on this one. I think you've walked into the lion's den! Good luck with the soap stones.

I would assume that a more appropriate market for Whiskey Stones would be for certain mixed drinks (using cheaper whiskey) where you would like to chill the drink without adding more and more water over time. But alas, I'll bet that most mixed-drinkers would miss their ice :)

@Hogshead I will have to agree to disagree. I wouldn't have thought 15 degrees Fahrenheit would have brought about such a strong reaction, but obviously this group adheres to the highest standards. Thank you for the good luck wishes and if I can save just a few whiskey drinkers from the dangers of ice, I'll consider my mission a success. (LOL)

@omalleysstones You're trying to save us from ice??

Thanks man! I really don't know what we'd do without your advice.... errr... guys we should stop putting ice in our whisky... anyone? He's joking... right?

Am I being filmed?

@Hogshead I'm not implying that any of you put ice in your whiskey, however, there are alot of people outside of your group that do. They are the people that may have an interest in whiskey stones.

I think we've cut @omalleysstones up enough for one day. There certainly is a market for whisky stones but unfortunately for omalleysstones this is most definitely not one of those markets.

thanks for everyone's reviews was just thinking of buying them after i saw this deal online ow.ly/c4oTw also curious, this is selling for $15/set of 9. Is this a steal? looks like many purchase. You never know with online shopping these days.

Hi @jen44, I notice there's an affiliate link to the site with the whiskey stones "deal" and given you signed up and this is the first thing you've posted, it seems you've come here to advertise. I take it you're trying to make a few bucks from click-throughs and commission on sales. Good luck with that. Your audience here is probably not the kind that would buy whiskey stones. Just saying.

Ooh eck, I thought for a moment "whisky stones" was a new gall bladder impairment from too many heavy nights. Phew.

Re opening up/closing down flavour though - my (vague) understanding was cooling your whisky down stops some of the particles escaping, so can be useful if they're otherwise getting in the way and you want to get at the lighter bits. Sometimes that's useful - a bit like watering whisky down, but without losing the alcohol strength.

I might be gone mad though. Personally I don't usually put ice in, but not against it either.

@systemdown Hey mate ever feel like the trolls are out to get you? No offense to omalleysstones and jen44, but as it has already been said many times before I think the large portion of the members here aren't going to be people buying whisky stones, wind chimes, pipes or any other bells and whistles for our whiskies. I think the vast majority of us prefer our whisky straight and if we want it warmer we know how to do that and if we want it colder we know how to do that too.