You Ain’t Got the Stones

I don’t expect it’s any secret that I enjoy an adult beverage or 7. And while vin rouge is my true poison, I do loves me a nice whiskey. Frequently.

This brings up two intertwined issues. One: I enjoy whiskey at an ever so slightly cool temperature, and two: I enjoy whiskey neat.

The simple solution, I suppose, is keep the whiskey in the fridge or freezer. Well, the freezer is WAY too cold, and completely masks all the subtile nuances that makes different whiskeys so unique and interesting. Same goes for the fridge.

I suspect the purists in the crowd will say that the nuances are still lost at anything other than room-temperature or warmer. And they’re probably right. But this is one of those moments where I like what I like, and you like what you like, but really we both like the same thing: getting super drunk whiskey.

And lots of it.

Passed, but not with flying colors

I recently procured some whiskey stones, which are nothing more than small cubes of granite that you stuff in the freezer to use in place of ice cubes in your drink. This in theory would cool your drink while not melting like said ice, and diluting the perfect flavor.

What I found was that the stones didn’t really cool the beverage very much at all.

However, they had several other fantastic benefits:

1. They added a pleasant heft to the glass, making my rather budget rocks glasses feel much classier.
2. The stones didn’t constantly fly forward and hit me in the face while sipping, unlike every ice cube I’ve ever encountered.
3. There’s fucking rocks in my drink. If that’s not manly, I don’t know what is.

So, I’ll continue to use them if for not other reason their aesthetic qualities. But quite honestly, if you want to drink your whiskey cool, not cold, put it in the wine cooler with your red wines. They should be held around 55 degrees, which is pretty much exactly where you want your whiskey.

Or, just go ahead and crack open that Châteauneuf. It’s your call.