Yesterday afternoon, while pouring whiskeys at a retail tasting (not the whiskey in this photo—it doesn’t matter which whiskey it was), and while one gentleman was chewing his sample pensively with eyes toward the heavens (halfway decent technique, actually), I pointed out that I had brought sample cocktails I made to show how well the whiskeys mix. He lowered his cup, looked me in the eye, and said, “But cocktails get in the way of the flavor of the whiskey.” He was very polite about it, but that’s an attitude I encounter a little too often at these tastings. Sometimes it’s delivered in a minor huff, as in “REAL men drink their whiskey straight!”

“How about considering that a good whiskey elevates the flavors and aromas of an interesting cocktail?” I said. And he accepted that politely, but still declined a cocktail sample. This isn’t an outrage; it happens all the time, because so many whiskey drinkers are simply snobby about drinking their whiskey “neat.”

They shouldn’t be. Most whiskeys are a bottomless bottle; finish the bottle in front of you, and there’ll be another just like it, or very close, right behind it. It’s not gold—and it’s certainly not communion wine. There’s no reason to confine your enjoyment of a whiskey to drinking it neat, other than being inexperienced at making cocktails … or too lazy to try.

I enjoy whiskey neat regularly, too, but thank God and the chefs of the world that they don’t treat our food the same way so many whiskey lovers treat their booze. Just imagine potatoes the same way every night … and string beans … and beef … and, and, and, and … . If you don’t like the idea of eating the same damned thing the same way every damned day, why would you prefer the idea of having your whiskey (or any other spirit) the same damned way every day??

Drinking whiskey (or any other spirit) neat is not a test of manhood or proof of sophistication. Loosen up, whiskey bros.