> even 25/75 water/whisky mix seems to eliminate most of the 'whiskyness'

I've always heard about a few drops of water per glass, nowhere near 25/75, probably closer to 5/95

I just use two or three drops of water from a pipette, which for some whisky really opens up the flavors. Most of the improvement for me comes in the form of mouth feel (it gets a bit more viscous and smooth) and in the nose. Anything more than a few drops will destroy these effects for me and just water the whisky down.

I’ve never seen people dilute 25%, that’s extreme even for cask strength.

I do dilute, not sure about exact result (no need to get scientific when general approach works just as well for me). I'd say to cca 30-35%, when alcohol taste disappears completely and its own flavors are much stronger and pleasant.

Never understood how some folks drink whiskey basically like vodka, what a waste of potential. Above 40% feels just like that.

Interesting, for me, it loses far too much flavor that way.

> Never understood how some folks drink whiskey basically like vodka, what a waste of potential. Above 40% feels just like that.

I’m thinking that you might be overly sensitive to alcohol on your tongue.

I like it around 40% just like the factory diluted one. Some times even more diluted than that, depending on what it is.

I would go with even less - a 1% to 2% dilution is what I normally go for, but only after tasting the whisk(e)y neat. Some open up better than others with the addition of a few drops of water.

For example, a particularly good Balblair whisky in my collection transforms into a sweetshop of flavours with a ~2% dilution.

I'd say it highly depends on what you're starting with. There's a huge difference between a basic 40% entry level malt/blend and a 60% cask strength bottling. I usually try without water first, and then fine tune if I find that particular whisky too harsh.

A little goes a long way. 2-10% is what I would expect comes off an ice cube after a couple minutes.

It would extremely atypical for to have ice-cubes in whisky in Scotland, although I appreciate different countries have different kinds of whisky, and different habits regarding it.

Scottish person here living in Scotland...

My experience doesn't agree with what you posited. I know more people who add water and/or ice to their whisky here than don't.

Some years ago I spoke with the master brewer of the Glenfiddich distillery in an event in London.

Knowing that there was some controversy around adding ice and/or water to whisky (there are all sorts of arguments around that - I even heard one stating that the ice breaks down the whisky molecules, which made me laugh a little) I asked him about it. Who better to ask after all?

He smiled and said that it's perfectly fine to add ice, that he does it all the time, and of course it doesn't do anything harmful to the whisky.

Same goes with water. "In fact," he said, "adding water is a good thing as it brings out the flavour. I do it every time."

Drinking whisky straight anaesthetises your tongue/tastebuds/mouth, you'll not taste the flavour. I've had superior whisky drinking experiences with adding water and/or ice.

Scottish person who lived in Scotland for 20+ years here :)

Drinking water alongside whisky, or adding a few drops to whisky was very commonly seen, both in bars, and at home. As you'd expect there are often wee taps on the bar for that purpose, or small jugs of water served alongside.

My comment was really relating to adding ice in particular, and I have to say I've only ever seen that done extremely rarely. Of course anecdotes aren't data, and people have their own specific preferences - I'd certainly not suggest it is "wrong" to have ice, but I would say it is unusual (and more a thing I associate with Americans).

Yep totally it's not our place to say - if they are enjoying our national drink and like to add ice to it, then all good with me :D I just have a teaspoon of water if anything and don't use ice unless I'm having an Old Fashioned (but that would be made with non-Scotch and is effectively cocktail anyway)

25/75 is way too dilute. Just a tiny splash is enough to bring out the flavour.