Pretty much every whiskey should be bottled at Cask strength and let the consumer decide the proof, excluding those below $30 and readily available in a 1.75, those should be to “taste” somewhere between 80 and 92 proof.
Only way whiskey can hit everyone’s sweet spot is to add water…or ice.
Some distillers do an excellent job proofing their whiskies BTW, so this isn’t to diminish their work in any way.
I’m probably in the minority in that I almost never water back whisky. If I don’t like it at cask strength, I just don’t buy it again. Of course I do often add just a couple of drops to help it bloom and open. That’s just personal preference. I got used to whisky that way.
The only time I ever water back is when I’m doing serious tasting and want to separate out the sensory components. But never for enjoyment.
The reality is if you need to water it back it’s either an unbalanced whiskey, you don’t like high proof spirits, or your looking for aromatics as you reference.
So…we agree, I think.
For me, it all depends on the specific expression and the sensory experience I’m seeking from it. I prefer most, but certainly not all, in the mid-40s% range. Much above that, the nose is often too spirity, hiding other aromatics as alluded to above. Same with palate, except that too much added water often negatively impacts texture in addition to taste. Old whiskies that are low abv as a result of evaporation in cask, rather than water diluted, are another matter altogether. E150a and chill filtering are culprits as well, often going hand in hand with overly diluted whisky.
Among my very favorite expressions are 1990’s releases of Springbank 12/100 proof. Rather than diluting to 50% abv (57% in the European bottlings) with water, Springbank diluted with very old, underproof whiskies. I drink these at 50% bottle strength with very little water added.
I’ve moved to higher ABV bourbon/rye, primarily because I like strong Manhattans. The bottle that pushed me over the edge for drinking high ABV neat was the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (B520), which just completely recalibrated my definition of a great (relatively affordable/easily sourced) bourbon. Toss in Stagg Jr, 1792 FP, etc. and I haven’t really looked back. There have been a couple of misses (Larceny BP and Pinhook High Proof didn’t do it for me), but the 55%-60% range has been my sweet spot 