Does Adding Water Make Whiskey Taste Better?

To say something empirically improves flavor ignores the main factor in our interpretation of taste: Personal preference. The best way to learn your preference is to try something a couple of different ways and decide which one you liked best. However, there is occasionally a stigma associated with adding water to whiskey, as if it takes away from the elixir’s natural beauty. Some feel the dilution takes away from the natural majesty of the drink. Others feel it tastes better with a splash of water. No matter your feelings on liquor trends, an explanation for the two different viewpoints could be useful.

Björn C. G. Karlsson and Ran Friedman, two scientists from Sweden, decided to put this idea to the test in 2017. After all, there had to be something to the idea of adding water to whiskey if it’s been around as long as it has. Can science definitively tell us when something tastes better? Maybe not. But they can explain what’s happening within the glass and why it changes the way it tastes.

What’s In There?

Karlsson and Friedman tested the relationship between ethanol, water, and guaiacol. Guaiacol is an amphipathic molecule, which means it has a non-polar fatty acid tail, and polar phosphate head. Polarity affects the molecule in how it interacts with other molecules. This is important because water is also a polar molecule, and polar molecules attract each other.

Ethanol and water don’t mix uniformly. Certain aromatic elements can become trapped with ethanol clusters, keeping them from reaching the surface. Why is that important?

We aren’t able to taste everything. Obviously, our taste buds differ from person to person, but the tongue, in general, isn’t able to sense a plethora of flavors. Aromatics are necessary in order to perceive the complexity of a particular drink. There are numerous compounds within a glass of whiskey that contribute to this, but this study focused on guaiacol.

Why?

Because guaiacol, in particular, gives scotch whiskey that smokey, spicy flavor. Also, guaiacol is similar to other compounds like vanillin and limonene, which are frequently found in other whiskeys. So if guaiacol is affected in a way that changes the flavor of the drink when water is added, the findings can be extrapolated to other compounds in different whiskeys.

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What Does This Mean?

Further diluting the whiskey beyond the ratio reached for bottling can bring compounds like guaiacol to the surface. This releases it from integrating with the ethanol. It is able to do this because of how the compounds interact with each other. Less dilution means the guaiacol molecules are surrounded by ethanol molecules, effectively covering them up.

Bringing guaiacol to the surface increases your ability to taste and smell the compound. As we said earlier, these are the flavors most associated with scotch. The tongue is able to identify sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory. It is when this is combined with scent that we are able to expand the possibilities of our sense of a beverage or food. Bringing the compound associated with particular flavors to the surface increases our understanding and appreciation of the drink.

So Why Not Dilute It In the Bottle?

If further diluting whiskey has been scientifically proven to have positive effects on the taste and smell, why not bottle it at this new ratio? Mainly, it’s a matter of taste. Leaving whiskey at its normal percentage of dilution allows the possibility of diluting it further. If it were bottled with more water, it would be impossible for someone to move the ratio in the other direction. And just because a study from Sweden has shown positive correlations between adding water to your whiskey, that doesn’t mean everyone is going to like it more than if it were served straight. The option must remain available for consumers. Beyond that, packaging and shipments would have to be rethought in order to account for the smaller amount of whiskey in each bottle.

Does Water Improve The Taste Of Whiskey?

The only test that really matters is in your particular glass. Take a drink. Does it taste good? Now add a little water. Does it taste better? Duplicate your findings from there on out. But if someone tries to give you a hard time when they see you adding a little water to your whiskey, just know you have science on your side.

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