Drinking notes, Overall.

I usually drink out of a small 70s style, smoked glass shot glass.  They are completely useless for judging color or clarity.  But they were my father's.  They have his initials.  They happen to match my initials by coincidence.  I also find that the Glencairn nosing glass focuses the alcohol vapors quite a bit and makes it hard to get anything other than alcohol on the nose.  So, this little straight sided wonder works just fine for me.  Mostly, it is a physical reminder of family.  I started the daily drink when thinking of my great uncle Bud many years ago.  My father's entire side of the family would pretty much disappear for a cocktail at 5pm if you were visiting them.  I decided that was a pretty good tradition.  Due to other pressures, that doesn't really happen at 5pm for me, but the idea is there.  A daily drink is a good time to think of friends and family, and a better time to talk to them or meet up with them.

Back to the drinking process, most whiskies I will do neat.  Or with splash of water. Or with a small ice cube.  It really depends on what the whisky needs. Some do better with water, some don't.  Just a little experimentation to feel out how it will perform. I find it funny that it doesn't correlate with proof, but that just shows the skill in making the good stuff, if you ask me.  For example, I find little reason to add water to Stagg or this years Parker's Heritage even with their robust proof.  However, I almost always have a small ice cube in my Old Weller Antique.  Some of that has to do with what I am expecting when drinking them, and for the context of their use. 

Cheers,

Andy