Whisky and Water

Often I hear this sentence from my customers: 'I drink my whisky only pure.' Should I leave this sentence in such a way? Surely not. But this sentence actually expresses a positive basic attitude for enjoying whisky: 'I won’t dilute my precious whisky!'

Why you should adjust whisky to drinking strength nevertheless and which water you use best, is described in this essay.

Without water life doesn’t work. We can survive 10 weeks without food, since the body keeps food reserves, but after a few days without water our life is threatened. Our body basically consists of water, from which we constantly lose large quantities by respiration and sweating. The average human being uses between 1,5 and 2,5 liters per day, which he must re-fill as fast as possible. If one exerts additionally or performs sports, this need can double easily. On the average per year each German drinks about 100 liters of mineral water.

Water is the all round recourse for our body, which adjusts all vital functions. Water is the solvent, with which the transport of nutrients and waste materials is managed. Water also adjusts the body temperature. The evaporative cold sweat on the skin cools the overheated body.

Mineral water is one of the most natural edible. The taste of mineral water varies from completely neutral to strongly sourly or salty. Where does this taste come from? It is the solved minerals and other inorganic substances, which the water brings along on its way to the earth's surface.

If you fill a container with mineral water and dip two metal plates inside, you can energize the ions in the water with, a voltage applied to them, into an arranged movement. The positive ions separate at the negatively charged metal plate (cathode). Therefore these ions are also called cations. The negative ions do the same on the positively charged anode.

Cations	Anions
Sodium	Chloride
Calcium	Sulfate
Magnesium	Hydrogen carbonate

Mineral waters are divided according to their mineral content into 'poor' and 'rich' types, depending on how much minerals the water carries. Record holder of the 'rich' mineral waters in Germany is the Bad Mergentheimer Albertquelle with 42 gram per litre (g/l). One of the 'poorest' type is the Hawaii Water with only 5mg/l. The ‘poorest’ German water is Kirkeler Waldquelle with 55 mg/l.

The group of mineral waters with less than 1g/l contain the well-known 'Frenchmen' Volvic, Evian, Perier and Vittel.

The most frequent cation and anion combinations in mineral waters are the result from the rock formations, through which the water flowed.

Lime rock layers Hydrogen carbonate waters	Gypsum layers Sulfate waters	Common salt deposit Chloride waters
Sodium Calcium Hydrogen Carbonate	Sodium Sulfate	Sodium Calcium Chloride
Calcium Magnesium Hydrogen Carbonate	Calcium Sulfate	Sodium Calcium Magnesium Chloride

Sodium ions and chloride ions combine to form table salt. Mineral waters with predominantly these components will thus taste salty. Salt consists of 60 weight percent of chloride ions and of 40 weight percent of sodium ions. One must therefore only divide the chloride amount in a water by 0,6 and one gets the amount of table salt, which is solved in the water. However this is only correct as long as the sodium amount in the water is sufficient for the salt linkage. Otherwise the sodium quantity must be divide by 0,4 in order to receive the table salt amount. In the latter case, there will still be free cloride ions in the water.

Whisky is usually filled into casks with 63,5 percents by volume alcohol. With the storage over many years the whisky usually looses alcohol strength, since the alcohol escapes through the cask walls. At the same time the whisky takes up materials from the wood, which gives it its softness. Each year the whisky in the cask loses between a half and a full per cent of alcohol. At the time of bottling the whisky still has 50 to 60% alcohol. This alcohol strength would paralyze our taste buds on the tongue and in the mouth area. Our taste perception would substantially be affected.

High-quality whiskies are more and more bottled at cask strength, to let the drinker decided for himself, at what strength he likes to savor his whisky. Begin at a small strength and start increasing, when your palate gets accustomed to the taste.

Which water should we use for the dilution of the whisky? Are we to use a 'healthy, rich' mineral water? Or do we better take a 'poor' and/or deionized water, which has no taste at all? Are we to take soda water, as how we see it on television in numerous espionage movies? Or does the whisky become more interesting with a strongly CO₂ enriched sparkling water?

From my point of view there are two argumentations, which withstand a critical examination:

1) Use distilled and/or deionized water for the adjustment of your whisky to drinking strength, since the neutral taste of the water does not falsify the whisky’s taste. Scottish whiskies, which come at 50 to 60% straight from the cask, are reduced with exactly this water to the demanded bottle strength. The Scottish whisky law prescribes this proceeding compellingly for bottling if you do not bottle close to the water source.

2) Scots exclusively use fresh spring water from domestic origins for the dilution of their most-loved beverage. If you order a whisky in a Scottish pub, you get at the same time a jug with spring water directly from the tap. What would thus be a more proper style than to use Scottish water with the national beverage of the Scots?

Scotland consists predominant of granite rock and sandstone. Rain water which flows over or by these rock formations contains very few minerals, as it is shown in the following analysis.

	Highland Spring
	Cations mg/l	Anions mg/l
	Sodium 9	Chloride 15
	Potassium 1	Sulfate 9
	Calcium 39	Hydrogen Carbonate 190
	Magnesium 15
	Attribut	unusually little Mineralization

At the end of this article you find a list of the most frequently available quiet mineral waters in Germany. It can be recognized that a multitude of mineral waters have a much larger mineral content than their Scottish brothers. The table solely contains still mineral waters, since sparkling waters make the whisky uneasy on the tongue and their carbon dioxide content affect the taste negatively.

The salt and the hydrogen carbonate have the largest influence on the taste of mineral water. The following diagram shows the classification of mineral waters regarding these two ingredients. The waters in the lower left quadrant are particularly suitable for the dilution of our loved Single Malt Whiskies.

The most easily available waters in our area as Apollinaris, Gerolsteiner, Fachinger, OberSelters or Ueberkinger, are unfortunately not at all suitable for most whiskies. The here listed Franken Brunnen is a special mineral water, which is usually not available in the super markets. Best suited are original Scottish or the well-known French still and 'poor' mineral waters. If you have the choice then use volvic instead of evian or Vittel.

Result:
Proper style are exclusively Scottish still spring waters. Good to use are also the still, 'poor' French waters. And if you do not have any of these at hand, simply use distilled water.

Warning: Never drink larger quantities of pure, distilled water. The lack of ions in the distilled water can disturb your body mineral household seriously and can be even life-threatening.
For this reason always add an appropriate quantity of Single Malt Whisky to your distilled water. ; -)

The following table shows a listing of still mineral waters that are most frequently available in Germany. It can clearly be recognized that a multitude of mineral waters possesses a much larger mineral content as their Scottish brothers. The table contains solely still mineral waters, since sparkling waters make the whisky uneasy on the tongue and the carbon dioxide affect the taste negatively.

Whisky and Water

An important additive to Single Malt Whisky