Adding a bit of water or not

[Birdo]

Since no one else is posting much, I thought i would start this fascinating thread:

When enjoying bourbon, does a splash of water really open up and improve flavors? I am a bit of skeptic on this issue. A hospitality host at a major distiller said adding a few drops of water to bourbon will open a bunch of additional flavors and nuances. The bourbon we were sampling was a 86-90 proof older bourbon. We tried it before and after with just a few drops of water, I didn't see much of a difference.

My argument against adding water to a low to mid proof whiskey is simple: the distiller has already added a substantial amount of water proofing down to bottling proof, what difference is a few drops of my own water going to make? Lower proof whiskey already has plenty of water added and is fine to drink neat.

Different story on higher proof or cask strength whiskey. These have little or no water added at the distiller, so they do benefit from a bit of water or a small ice cube.

Just my opinion.

[Squire]

I do, always have, ice as well. One can always start small then work up just as an experiment.

[ebo]

I'm with you, Birdo. I don't get much, if any difference. I like my bourbon just the way it is out of the bottle and at room temp.

[Bourbon Joe]

As our bourbon tastings have proven, sometimes a little water improves the pour.

[Mike]

I generally do add a very small amount of water. But just to test the claims, I put about 30 ml of Evan Williams Single Barrel into two glasses and added a few drops of water to one and none to the other.

There is a difference! In the one with the drops of water the alcohol has less presence. The effect of this was to accentuate the barrel aromas a bit and to soften the attack of the alcohol.

At some point in the past I must have tried this, but I no longer remember it.

I repeated the experiement with Old Grand Dad BIB (100 proof). Again there was a difference in both the nose and in the taste........... although it did not seem as pronounced as with the EWSB.

This may all be like a placebo effect.... but going back to the both after a few moment, the difference still seemed to be detectable in both.

Last year, my wife and I went on a Baltic Cruise. We met a delightful Australian couple, and Steve, (pronounced Stave) the fellow of the pair, and I, along with another American, participated in a bourbon tasting as we passed overnight between Helsinki and Copenhagen. The bourbons were all from the Beam Distillery, but they did include several high end ones (Baker's, Knob Creek, and Basil Hayden). The 'moderater' actually did not know much about bourbon, and after a few comments from me (not meant to embarrass him), he grew silent. Still, the addition of a few drops of water in these bourbons did not seem to make much difference. I like both Baker's and Knob Creek, but I have an unreasonable dislike of Basil Hayden's that I doubt I can overcome. Still, it was fun.

At this point in the dust up, there is no discernible difference in either of the two EWSB bourbons or in the OGD BIB......... which suggest three possibilities: (1) a drop of water does make an immediate difference, or (2) if there is a difference, it is short term, or (3) Mike is full of shit. At this point, even given that I am willing to concede that I am full of shit, I think there is probably a short term effect that does, just as they say, open the bourbon a bit.

BTW, at Heaven Hill, they suggest that before you sip any bourbon, you take a sip of water. The reasoning behind this is that a moist tongue is less likely to feel the drying (and stinging) effects of the alcohol. I do find that to be true.