"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message ...

| And of course, I'd drink it straight. I saw a TV show
| which had a segment on the fine whiskies of Scotland,
| and they interviewed an "expert" who said that whiskey
| should always be diluted with water to appreciate it.
| I don't understand that. If it were more desirable
| when diluted, why would it not be made that way in
| the first place? I think a good whiskey should be
| sipped in tiny amounts and savored (or should that
| be "savoured").

Definitely "savoured." Do this: take two decently sized
wine glasses. Pour the same amount of Crown Royal into
each glass. Swirl and sniff each, they should smell the same.
Now add about half that amount of water to one of them and
repeat the swirl/sniff routine, you should tell a difference.
The process allows the liquor to oxygenate more easily than
it could without the water. This isn't something they can do
before the liquor is bottled.

pavane