Cold Water vs Ice vs Cold Rocks – How Should You Have Your Whisky

Ask any whisky lover on how they prefer their favourite drink and you’d get opinions as varied as the different brands and styles of whiskey they have tried in the past. There is one thing that binds most whisky lovers – they love their drink chilled. We discuss the three most common whisky chilling options: cold water, real ice and cold rocks.

So here is our take on which option should you try when it comes to chilling your whisky:

Cold Water

It is the most common way to chill your drink and once you pour cold water to your glass it immediately brings down the temperature and also dilutes the drink. But you can’t enjoy the real taste of your whisky this way.

Real Ice

Traditionally ice cubes were one of the selling points at bars as not many people could make ice cubes at home a century ago. They don’t chill the drink or dilute it immediately like cold water but the process is gradual. So you can enjoy different taste in the same glass. You enjoy near neat drink in your first sip and it gets diluted as you go along, changing the taste profile gradually. Enjoy the chilliest sip after a few minutes.

Cold Rocks

Without sounding biased if you like your drink neat and don’t wish to alter the taste and aroma you should opt for cold rocks straightway. These are among the most popular whisky accessories that are available across online and retail stores. These rocks usually shaped as cubes are made from nonporous soapstone. You need to chill them before adding them to your drink. Unlike water and ice they don’t alter the taste. But they lose their temperature faster than ice, so you can’t hang around with your glass for too long if you want to enjoy it chilled.

To sum up, there can never be a perfect way to chill your drink but if you prefer to have it neat you must go for cold rocks without any doubt.