I know this subject matter is similar to the "anyone put water in their Scotch" or whatever the precise title is, but I thought this was different enough to warrant a new thread. I apologize if others think it is creating an excessive number of threads.
FWIW, the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated reports the results of taste tests, blind as I understand it, of putting water in whisky. (It may have been Scotch only. I do not have the magazine with me.)
They state that the results are very clear that distilled water brings out the flavors and I assume aromas of whisky better than other water. The theory seems to be that minerals in other waters bind to some extent with aroma and flavor molecules in whiskies and dampen them to some extent, whereas distilled water having no minerals exclusively opens whiskies up. They did not seem to reach a conclusion re optimal amount of water. I seem to remember one teaspoon to two tablespoons being mentioned. I do not remember if they mentioned making ice cubes with distilled water which seems like an obvious thing to do given the taste results.
This seems counterintuitive to me, but much of life does. I generally have a good deal of faith in KI/ATK tasting results. And I doubt the American Distilled Water Association had a hand in the tests. If the results are really as clear as indicated, this seems meaningful.
FWIW, the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated reports the results of taste tests, blind as I understand it, of putting water in whisky. (It may have been Scotch only. I do not have the magazine with me.)
They state that the results are very clear that distilled water brings out the flavors and I assume aromas of whisky better than other water. The theory seems to be that minerals in other waters bind to some extent with aroma and flavor molecules in whiskies and dampen them to some extent, whereas distilled water having no minerals exclusively opens whiskies up. They did not seem to reach a conclusion re optimal amount of water. I seem to remember one teaspoon to two tablespoons being mentioned. I do not remember if they mentioned making ice cubes with distilled water which seems like an obvious thing to do given the taste results.
This seems counterintuitive to me, but much of life does. I generally have a good deal of faith in KI/ATK tasting results. And I doubt the American Distilled Water Association had a hand in the tests. If the results are really as clear as indicated, this seems meaningful.