The weather is currently too hot in Belgium for whisky. In 35°C, water seems to be a better option so let’s talk about adding water to your dram.

In recent years we’ve seen the rise of premium waters. There are water bars and stores specialized in waters from around the world. As I walked through a local supermarket with more than 70 different brands of water, I noticed that some of them were said to be great for diluting whisky. Among them, Gleneagles and this Duchy Royal Deeside.

Duchy is bottled from a source in Royal Deeside, Scotland. It makes sense to use Scottish water as distilleries also tend to use local, natural spring water during the distillation process, so we’re probably not adding foreign elements. Royal Deeside is low in minerals, so again we don’t add possible flavour elements like salts or chloride.

Duchy Royal Deeside (0,0%, OB 2010, still)

Some waters are practically tasteless but Royal Deeside has a taste. It’s difficult to describe but it seems a bit metallic which is surprising as the mineral levels are low. As a drinking water, I would prefer other types.

When diluting a whisky, I don’t notice anything special, which I suppose is exactly what we’re trying to achieve. On the other hand, I don’t think this water is special. I guess any brand of bottled water will do as long as they don’t contain excessive amounts of certain minerals. Or use filtered Brita water like I normally do.

I’ll try to compare with some other brands that claim to be ideal for whisky, but for the moment, I don’t see a reason to search for any kind of special “whisky water”.

If you have other experiences, let’s hear your comments.