> My scotch drinking friends think it antithetical to add a splash or even drink on the rocks. The flavor compounds in each liquor are different, and volatile

> My scotch drinking friends think it antithetical to add a splash or even drink on the rocks. The flavor compounds in each liquor are different, and volatile chemical reactions take place depending on dilution and temperature. You literally can't taste some things unless you add water or lower temperature. If they never add water or cold/ice, they're just missing out on flavor. https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i5/whisky-and-how-do-you-best-enjoy-hundreds-of-flavor-compounds.html https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i5/whisky-and-how-do-you-bes... "Although Hughes’s specialty is on the chemistry of distillation, he has some advice for appreciating whisky: Add some water to the spirit to increase your experience of the flavor. Here’s his logic: When you add water to alcohol that’s at 40% concentration—as it is in whisky—the combination doesn’t mix into a homogeneous solution, Hughes says. It may appear that way by eye, but on a molecular level, you have clusters of alcohol in a background of water. Without added water, he says, those hydrophobic clusters hold onto flavor, and the drinker doesn’t get the full effect of whisky in the mouth. But, Hughes explains, when you start adding water, those hydrophobic clusters begin to break up, so more of the flavor reaches the tongue. Hughes recommends adding a little bit of water to the spirit at a time until you find a flavor profile you like or you reach a 2:1 whisky-to-water ratio. “Often people say you shouldn’t add water to whisky,” Hughes says. “But I’m of the view that it’s your drink and you can do what you like with it.”"