Why cask strength?

[9iron]

I'm just wondering why the preference for cask strength? Trying to better understand and educate myself. I have only experienced one cask strength whisky, the bottle of Aberlour A'bunadh that I'm presently enjoying. I'm not befuddled by the idea, but do wonder in the bigger picture what the advantage is to obtaining a cask strength version over a 43 or 46 percent bottling?

I understand that you are getting the whisky in it's purest state, that it is non chill filtered and where it naturally should be after distilling and aging. This and this alone seems reason enough, but is it the reason you folks prefer it?

Pro - non chill filtered, unadulterated.

Con - Must be cut with water anyhow, and can't be done with the exacting standards a blender would do when bottling at, say, 46%.

Pro- When you get beyond the high alchohol content, tasting this straight from the bottle the flavors are intense and different from weaker bottlings.

Con - You can't really sip too much of it this way as the high alchohol content soon makes it impossible to taste the nuances in the whisky, and when cut with water the tastes are still great but not different enough to warrant the high prices (example, the A'bunadh versus Aberlour 12 year, once cut with water the tastes aren't all that different).

Interested to hear everyones opinions, and keep in mind I'm learning here, this is more of a question than an opinion on my part.

Jim

[robjohnston]

Basically, we love the choice of being able to water it down ourselves as some whisky have been watered down but taste better at a higher strength.

It is all about the "pure" view, i want the option to do what i want to my whisky.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

...tasting this straight from the bottle the flavors are intense and different from weaker bottlings.

That. And I disagree that it "must be watered"--I rarely water cask-strength whiskies, and when I do, it's just a few drops. You get used to it (hint: take smaller sips). Most 40-46% whiskies seem pretty dull to me now.

[Pete Smoke]

I prefer CS, but i cannot rule out the 40%ers. It's all whisky after all. Although admittedly i rarely buy whisky at less than 46%.

CS does offer a more intense experience flavour wise and adding water oneself is effortless, although i'm usually lazy in that regard and don't bother. I like the idea that whisky from those sleeping casks of maturing whisky gets from the warehouse to my glass with as little interference as possible.

Also scraping the barrel of reasons, better not to ship all that unnecessary water, saving fuel and the, ahem, environment.

[MacDeffe]

It is as Mr. TH says

Not everyone necesarily cuts a cask strength whisky and if we do, we do it differently.

Cask strengths can be anything from 40.0 to 71.5 (Stagg )

If the whisky is at 40% it's ruined for you if you find it too watery...

Steffen

[9iron]

Good replies, and thank you. My own new-to-it experience with cask strength, the Aberlour, was that the first couple of sips (I sip small regardless of the alcohol content and normally nurse a small glass a good long while) were extreme sherry bombs, but soon the alcohol content seemed to be numbing my taste buds and I couldn't detect the intense flavor anymore. When I added a few drops of water at a time and let the glass rest a few minutes, this glorious fruit came forward but the sherry intensity dropped off significantly. I suppose it just warrants more experimentation and experience, which is fine with me as it's quite good stuff.

I've also been enjoying Springbank 10 at 46% and think that's about the perfect alcohol percentage, as I notice the 40 and 43 percent whiskies seem a bit weak afterwards.

I do have a couple of other cask strength malts on my short list to help me along in my education, namely the Laphroaig 10 year old CS and the Ardbeg Uigeadail. Might have to work some overtime first....

[ca_aok]

I'd say I prefer CS, though how much (if any) water I add depends on the whisky in question. There are some I prefer at full strength, with other that can take a generous amount of water, and everything inbetween.

[athlete cured]

personally, I don't want to find myself in a position where 40%-46% whiskies are unenjoyable....

[athlete cured]

I've also been enjoying Springbank 10 at 46% and think that's about the perfect alcohol percentage

it's my opinion that springbank 10/46% takes water beautifully! so I usually add water to it..

[Peat Sampras]

It's like drugs, the more you take, the stronger a dose you need. I started with whisky coke, then 40%, then cask strenght. Currently I drink it straight from the stills

[C57]

Good replies, and thank you. My own new-to-it experience with cask strength, the Aberlour, was that the first couple of sips (I sip small regardless of the alcohol content and normally nurse a small glass a good long while) were extreme sherry bombs, but soon the alcohol content seemed to be numbing my taste buds and I couldn't detect the intense flavor anymore. When I added a few drops of water at a time and let the glass rest a few minutes, this glorious fruit came forward but the sherry intensity dropped off significantly. I suppose it just warrants more experimentation and experience, which is fine with me as it's quite good stuff.

I've also been enjoying Springbank 10 at 46% and think that's about the perfect alcohol percentage, as I notice the 40 and 43 percent whiskies seem a bit weak afterwards.

I do have a couple of other cask strength malts on my short list to help me along in my education, namely the Laphroaig 10 year old CS and the Ardbeg Uigeadail. Might have to work some overtime first....

Now, everone is different and so is each whisky.
Persoanlly I don't (usually - there are exceptions) drink at cask strength.
But like others, I want to choose the level to which I dilute. And like AC

I don't want to find myself in a position where 40%-46% whiskies are unenjoyable

So I like to buy at any strength because there's something good in most whiakies

[DavidUK]

I often buy cask strength whiskies and although I never drink at the high strength as the alcohol just numbs the flavour, I am of the opinion that adding water and drinking a few minutes later is a more flavoursome experience than if the whisky had been watered down when it was bottled months or even years ago.

[Willie JJ]

I rarely find that CS whiskies need water and even if they seem closed at full strength it seldom takes much water to release the flavours. I like to be able to find that point myself rather than having the option removed from me by dilution.

[alec.tron]

As many already said, appreciating/preferring cask strength has a lot to do with the fact that your body will get accustomed to it. Which imo is a blessing and a curse for multiple reasons...

For me, the magic of actual cask strength in it's literal sense - think single cask, undiluted, unchilfiltered, untempered with, is the extremeties and variation one gets when experiencing these. Obviously these extremities go to both sides of the scale, good and bad.
And there the A'bunadh, as yummy as it is, is not the ideal example as that is a multi cask vatting, also, imo these usually seem to take water less well then the next.
Also, I like to experience how a whisky actually reacts to water (& air/time in the glass) as every cask is different. My favourites are definetely the one that can swim, and that show different characteristics in each stage so I can adjust the same whisky in strength and in profile when I feel like it.
It just gets a bit annoying if you found one that needs over an hour or 2 to get to the stage you prefer as drinking those needs a bit of pre-planning...
Slainte.
c.

[scotchio]

Just to add cask strength or higher strength whiskies seem to deteriorate more slowly than lower strength. I like the price of lower strength whiskies but ideally I think 46% is as low as they should go.

[Maccy]

I usually have one dram less with CS - possibly a hidden saving!

I sometimes water, I sometimes don't.

I enjoy some whiskies at 40%, some at 60% and some at anything in-between.

I prefer non-coloured and non-chill filtered whisky, but it does not stop me drinking others.

I like 5 year old whiskies and 50 year old whiskies and anything in-between.

Wonderful isn't it!

[chickenium]

I love the harshness some CS whiskies can have. They also make any 40-46% drank after that super smooth. I drank a HP12 after a PC8 and it was like drinking liquid velvet.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

see it this way... cask strength whisky is like a squash... diluting it with water makes one bottle go a longer way.

Greetings
kallaskander

[Card Player]

If the whisky is at 40% it's ruined for you if you find it too watery...

Steffen

Some whisky profiles probably wouldn't be good at cask strength...yet there are others like Basil Hayden's which I find too watery, then wonder; what would this be like at cask strength.

[Mariner]

It's not only about being able to dilute your cask strength whisky at your preferred drinking strength.

If you add water to any whisky (also 40%) there are mostly aromas coming out that you couldn't detect undiluted. CS whisky is generally more packed with flavours anyway, so you'll get a more complex and mostly better whisky.

Also: adding water warms your whisky because you are actually dissolving the alcohol into (more) water which creates energy in the form of warmth. This makes it easier for flavours to evaporate. The lower strength whiskies are already watered down so they can't release as much flavours.


Btw, because of this post a question popped up in my mind: how do they water whisky down to bottle strength?

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Also: adding water warms your whisky because you are actually dissolving the alcohol into (more) water which creates energy in the form of warmth. This makes it easier for flavours to evaporate.

This may be true, but it seems to me the heat generated would be negligible compared to what you can add with the warmth of your hand, and would certainly be offset anyway if the water is cooler than the whisky. Murray advocates warming without water; Paterson advocates water without warming (and threatens to kill you if you disagree). Choose your narcissist.

[Johnny Murgatroyd]

I agree that, if you dilute a cask strength whisky to 40%, it will in theory still taste quite different from a 40% bottling. This is one good reason to buy cask strength.

I also agree that there is a potential cash saving in getting a 60% bottling rather than a 40% - I find that cask-strength bottlings have greater longevity in the ol’ cabinet. A relatively cheap Abunadh, for instance, can last for ages.

I find too that Abunadh drowns surprisingly quickly. My current policy is to add seven mL of water to the glass, then fill it to the 30mL mark – this seems to work for me. It ends up with a whisky a shade over 50%, if my figures are correct.

I like stories of auld Scotland, when chappies would go down to the public house, where the whiskies were embarrelled, and just tap off a bit into a pewter jug. Not chill filtered, no added colour, totally cask strength. No bottles in the way, really. So there’s also the appeal of drinking whisky “as it should be”.

[jsaliga]

Interesting responses. I find that most whisky benefits from the addition of some water.

That said, I drink all whisky at bottle strength neat, and then carefully add water to taste. With cask strength whisky bottled at high ABV I find a great deal of flavor is hidden behind the alcohol. I love George T. Stagg bourbon, for example, and it is interesting to sample at bottle strength of over 70% ABV. Adding some water makes it easier to taste and savor the flavors this whisky has to offer. The amount of water I add depends greatly on the whisky. Some cask strength whisky only needs a few drops of water, and some whisky bottled at 46% will need quite a bit more.

I prefer to buy cask strength whisky because I think I am better than the distillery at finding the strength at which I prefer to enjoy it. That won't stop me from buying whisky bottled at 46% or 43%, but I really try to avoid anything less. If a distillery bottling is available at 40% then I will look for an independent bottling at cask strength.

--Jerome

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Has anyone mentioned mouthfeel? The fat, oily texture of many cask-strength whiskies is one of the things I most enjoy in a dram.

[Mariner]

I did a little experiment:

I diluted a CS whisky and measured the temperature. Albeit I used a so so thermometer, the changes are clear. And I used a pipette to add water.

So I poured 25ml of the Edradour bourbon cask 1st release at 57,4% ABV to get things started.

The T° of the water = 23,2°C or 73,8 °F
The T° of the whisky = also 23,2°C or 73,8°F

Then I started adding water and gave it a good swirl.

After one drop of water = 23,4°C or 74,1°F
After 2 drops = 23,6°C or 74,5°F
After 3 drops = 23,9°C or 75°F
After 4 drops = 24,1°C or 75,4°F
After 5 drops = 24,3°C or 75,7°F (0,5 ml water total at this point)
After 1ml of water = 24,8°C or 76,6°F
After 1,5 ml of water = 25,1°C or 77,1°F
After 2 ml of water = 25,2°C or 77,4°F

Then I thought adding more doesn't seem sensible any more. But when I continued adding water to my preferable drinking strength for this one (which must be around 10ml water in total) and measured again just out of curiosity, it was 27,2°C (or 81°F)

Now I decided to waste this dram for the sake out of curiosity, and the max T° I got was 28.0°C. I think I added around 30ml (rough estimation, I stopped adding measured quantities) in total now. But this isn't something sensible to do as I'm drinking whisky flavoured water at this point. Nosing this still works in a way, but it's all very flat and hard to define the aromas that are coming out. (I heard stories though that people at masterclasses learnt to dilute the whisky to 20% ABV to nose the whisky properly)

Of course you can get even more warmth generated by warming the whisky between you hand palms, but because you don't diluted it is still too dense in my opinion. So the combo of adding an amount of water to dilute, to generate warmth, and then warm it between your hands is probably best to get the aromas?! How do Murray and Paterson like that?

But my experience tells me that when you warm a whisky between your hands, you should finish it faster as it dies in the glass faster, because everything evaporates much faster. So I'm not a fan of that.