After six years of grad school in Scotland, I became a little fanatical about whisky drinking. Annoyingly so. But now my advice to anyone starting out with whisky is this:

Try it straight-up. No water, no ice. Just whisky and a clean glass. Take a sip, enjoy it, savour its taste and smell. Don't shoot it like it's tequila.

Then add a few drops of water and see what happens. Try it again just after adding water, then wait for a few minutes and try it again. Plenty of malts will change dramatically with the addition of water and time.

If you want, try some ice. And if you like it, then go for it, and don't let anyone tell you you are wrong for liking something you're not 'supposed' too.

Personally, depending on the malt, I either enjoy it straight up, or with a tiny bit of water. I don't like it on ice as I find that does kill the flavour as well as watering it down gradually.

A while back a buddy of mine here had a whisky tasting night to put a dent into the pile of bottles he received for his 40th birthday. His Dad, who is originally from Broughty Ferry on the Firth of Tay (now more or less a part of Dundee) was also able to join us as he was visiting. One of the guests was telling a newbie how he 'should' drink whisky, and that it was wrong, wrong, wrong to ever even consider putting ice in it. This guy had spent a week in Scotland about ten years ago and so considered himself and expert. As he was going on about the 'proper' way to drink whisky, my friend's dad was chuckling to himself as he added some ice to his glass. He winked and said 'I like it with ginger ale too...'

So beware armchair experts, and enjoy it how you enjoy it. But I do highly recommend trying it different ways to find out what works for you. And most importantly - enjoy it

Slainthe mhor!