The ice case

[mrt]

I guess many of the members here prefer their whisk(e)y neat. But what's the general opinion about ice in whisk(e)y?

And if you choose the third option, please state the details.

[Sherried Malt]

I just voted no.

I don't see much difference between watering down one's whisky and using ice, which gets you to the same point. And probably with much less control over the final mix...

Maybe others will be able to shed some light on why using ice might be better than using water, if that's one's goal...

[Mr Fjeld]

I voted alternative 2 . I don't use ice myself but if I was in India or experienced an "indian summer" somewhere I certainly would. Apart from that I think one should do whatever suits you.

Christian

[Jan]

I voted #2.

While I almost never, ever have ice with whisky, I will not rule it out entirely - as Christian mentions; on a very hot days or in a few other circumstances, it does have merit. But for me it's the exception - not the rule.

Cheers
Jan

[Lawrence]

It depends on the situation, it evaluating a whisky, then NO. But sometimes I just want to have a social drink and if it's very hot, I often like a Dalwhinnie 15 with some ice. It's a cooling drink and it works well.

Now hold onto your socks, if it's really hot, I mix some Laphroaig 10, a little splash of Roses Lime Cordial and add ice, the combination of the peat, the lime and the coolness of the ice make it a great hot weather drink.

The horror!

[Photon]

Now hold onto your socks, if it's really hot, I mix some Laphroaig 10, a little splash of Roses Lime Cordial and add ice, the combination of the peat, the lime and the coolness of the ice make it a great hot weather drink.

The horror!

Actually, it sounds like it could be rather good. Lime juice goes well in spicy foods, (salsa, sing sauce, curry) so peaty isn't a stretch. And if Rose's can make Yukon Jack drinkable, it can do anything.

-P.

[Muskrat Portage]

... The horror!

I like that: Joseph Conrad?
A sip first, maybe a trickle of water after. No ice. Period. Chilling around the glass is another story .. .outside BBQ'g cools A'Bunadh into a nice winter dram.
Now, a buddy pours a healthy dram, adds an ice cube lets it melt, then drinks it. Cools the whisky slightly and sufficient water for his tastes. M.P.

[Virginia Gentleman]

No. The ice melts and waters down the whisky. I think it tastes best at room temperature.

[Deactivated Member]

Lawrence, I tried to hold onto my socks, but I dropped them. (Good thing you didn't tell me to hold onto my shorts.)

No ice, no, no, ten thousand times ten thousand times no! It's an abomination, a crime against nature, a capital offense! But hey, that's just me. If it's too hot to properly appreciate whisky, I don't drink it.

When I was at university, I had a girlfriend who very occasionally enjoyed a Dalwhinnie on the rocks, along with a Rolling Rock beer. We had a good friend named Tammy who worked at the same university job that we did, and whose hometown was not too far from my girlfriend's. We'd all known each other for several years when, one evening, we all went out for a drink. Tammy ordered a Dalwhinnie on the rocks and a Rolling Rock. Thus it was that the two women learned that they'd each, years before, dated the same man.

[parvus]

Voted no, but if that's how others want to enjoy it, do so. Just don't expect anything from my collection, you strange person.

[Lawrence]

Just don't expect anything from my collection, you strange person.

That's excellent!

[Frodo]

If it's too hot to properly appreciate whisky, I don't drink it.

Yeah, that's my view of it. In the summer, I can go for beer (beer weather in Canada) or Tequila. No need to adulterate whisky of any sort.

This aside, I can't get into whisky on the rocks. As the ice melts, the consistency and temperature of the drink changes and this...irritates me. I have no problem adding water - I do this all the time.

I have no issues with others using ice. I just don't do it myself. I also think it's not the best way to get the best from the whisky. If it's good whisky, you lose some of the flavours this way. If it's substandard whisky, this practice just camaflages this fact a bit. And I would rather just not drink substandard whisky than try to make it paletable.

BTB, I have been known to drink the occasional bar brand such as Jim Beam White label, or Cutty Sark. This isn't about snobbery IMO - it's about me not "getting" the attraction to whisky on rocks.

Different strokes and all that I guess.

[Aidan]

I suppose it depends on what you want. If you would like something refreshing and you like whisky, then why not? I know lots of people who would drink whisky with ice from time to time and they would, by in large, be no less sophisticated or intelligent to anyone else.

Ice is a bit of an equaliser, so I would not put it in a whisky if it was very expensive or was the last glass of this particluar brand left on the planet.

Stick a bit of ice in a good malt and you're not missing out on a life changing experience. In fact, I bet there's more left in the bottle and on the planet that you could try without ice, or even in cocktail.

[The Fachan]

Sometimes worth a couple of lumps of ice in a malt when you visit a bar and often the bottles are on the highest shelves almost cooking under bar lights, just to bring it nearer room temp.
Just a thought

Ian

[bamber]

Bourbon or blend on blazing hot day - pretty much never here, I'll have a whisky on the rocks.

[Deactivated Member]

No ice, no, no, ten thousand times ten thousand times no! It's an abomination, a crime against nature, a capital offense! But hey, that's just me. If it's too hot to properly appreciate whisky, I don't drink it.

What the man said. There are so many other drinks just made for hot weather. Cold beer. Vodka from the freezer. Soft drinks...

[Paul A Jellis]

I voted no because I do not like 'chilled' drinks and I aslo like to have more control over the amount of water I put in my whisky than I get with putting ice into the glass.

Cheers

Paul

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I have never used ice but if people like it that way why not. I very rarely drink a lot of whiskey when I'm out but if I did I think after the 3rd or 4th I'd be asking for ice then. That would only be to prevent me from hitting the floor at 11pm as opposed 12.30am

But if I was having more than a few social whiskies I'd be going for some whiskey after a while.

[rifkin]

First, hi and hello everyone.

Regarding this question, I have some tiny pieces of stone, maybe 3/4"x3/4" cubic chaped, (perhaps marble, I don't know) which I cool in the freezer and then put in the glass.
Stone is good at keeping the cool (err, what a crappy sentence), and unlike ice it doesn't melt. One achieves the same effect as one would with ice although the whisky doesn't suffer from the ice melting.

However, generally I must say that I don't like cooling down my whisky, either with ice, stones or water.

It nums the whisky and makes it rather unpleasent to drink. Many of the flavours becomes almost unrecognisable and incapsulated.

But that's just my two cents...

[Deactivated Member]

I didn't know they had any cents in Norway.

Yes, that is the basic issue--whisky really ought to be warmed a bit to be appreciated. But whatever floats your knarr.

(Interesting signature--I would say that French food, wine, girls, and even cars are not too shabby. Call them the best all-rounder!)

[Deactivated Member]

Hi Rifkin and welcome to the forum. Your use of stones is an excellent and quite traditional way of cooling drink. Stones were originally pulled from cool fast flowing streams and indeed this practice led to the term "on the rocks".

There are a few whiskies on the market supposedly designed for cooling - 'laddie Rocks for one, but personally I still prefer to taste my dram at just below room temp. allowing the heat in my mouth to open up the flavour.

[bamber]

I want to see someone put always

[Deactivated Member]

There are a few whiskies on the market supposedly designed for cooling - 'laddie Rocks for one, but personally I still prefer to taste my dram at just below room temp. allowing the heat in my mouth to open up the flavour.

What is it about the design of Rocks that makes it especially suitable for cooling - or is this just hot air?

[Deactivated Member]

I want to see someone put always

Back in your cage Bamber. That's not the point of the exercise and you know it

[DramMeister]

Almost always no.
Except once in a pub in Fort William the barman insisted I tried a Laphroiag 10 with a lump of ice. It did change the consistency making it quite creamy. An interesting experiment, but never repeated.

[Badmonkey]

A friend of mine mixed me a Booker's on ice a couple of weeks back with a splash of lemon, and it was very, very tasty. I suppose the fact that she is damn hot skewed my perception, but a tasty drink is a tasty drink.

[Deactivated Member]

What is it about the design of Rocks that makes it especially suitable for cooling - or is this just hot air?

I suspect that it is a marketing ploy - and why not?
Personally I think it tastes grand as it is.

[Mr Ellen]

I voted no.
I personally never drink my whisky "on the rocks". As the ice melts I find the whisky to become watery and tasteless.
However, I don't blame anyone if they prefer their whisky with ice. As I visited Talisker a couple of years ago, one lady who worked there told me she always drank her whisky with ice , so I guess it's up to each person to decide. When it's hot I tend to drink something else than whisky, preferably beer.

Cheers
______________________
Anders

[rifkin]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Been enjoying whisky for two years now, since I was 20.

As for my signature, I suppose some members in here like France, weather they are french or feel a tiny bit french (some Quebec-based Canadians).
I'm quite a bit biased when it comes to this matter, since I personally find France bloody useless. I don't appreciate french food, culture, society,cognac, and my impression of the people is somewhat arrogant and nonchalant. A whole bunch of chevaliers. With that being said, don't let my opinion on France cloud your own jugdement.

[Deactivated Member]

It won't, rif...but be advised that we consider ourselves to be a very cordial and civilized forum, and generally try to avoid such things as slagging entire nations.

[Lawrence]

I agree, we try to avoid contentious subjects, after all this is a forum for discussing whisky not for making people feel bad. In any case thanks to the country in question a large number of our favourite distilleries are alive and well today because of that country's love of scotch whisky and their huge consumption.

I welcome you to the forum but I think you should alter the tag, if for no other reason than to be civil.

[Eric in ABQ]

Never for single malts, about %50 of the time for bourbon. I find myself specifically in the mood for bourbon on ice sometimes. I think it makes an excellent cocktail when that is what I'm in the mood for.

[patrick dicaprio]

notthat often but i have no objection and will partake of ice myself. it all depends on TASTE!!! everyone is different and if someone enjoys it with ice then that is up to them. i do know a guy though that drinks macallan 18 on ice and that should be a crime.

Pat

[Frodo]

i do know a guy though that drinks macallan 18 on ice and that should be a crime.

Pat

Why is that a crime?

[MacLover]

I know this may appall some bourbon enthusiats, but a few years ago a friend of mine turned me on to putting a bottle of bourbon in the freezer for a few days to chill it, then sipping on a glass and swirling it in my mouth to release the flavors as it warms in my mouth.

Typically I do not do this but when living in a very warm and humid climate like I was in Georgia (USA), and now Shanghai, it is a quite refreshing way to enjoy one of my preferred drinks on a hot day (not a big beer fan unfortunately), especially during a BBQ.