Water really does give a whisky nip some zip

‘‘There are two things a Highlander likes naked,’’ an old Scottish proverb has it, ‘‘and one of them is malt whisky.’’

Yet two Swedish chemists have risked incurring the wrath of Scotch purists with a scientific paper which argues that adding a few drops of water enhances the drink’s flavour.

Many Scottish whiskies, and in particular those that are produced on the island of Islay, have a distinctively smoky scent that comes from the peat fires kindled beneath the malted barley.

This imbues the spirit with a range of aromatic compounds called phenols and one in particular, known as guaiacol, tends to be much more concentrated in Scotch than in Irish whiskeys or American ryes and bourbons.

Bjorn Karlsson and Ran Friedman, scientists at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, have shown in a series of computer simulations that higher concentrations of alcohol tend to smother this chemical so that less of it is exposed at the surface of the liquid. In other words, the more water there is in the whisky, the smokier it should taste – up to a point. The controversial bit is exactly where that point lies.

The spirit is usually distilled to about 70 per cent alcohol by volume and then diluted until this figure falls to something in the region of 40 per cent.

If the calculations of Dr Friedman and Dr Karlsson are right, though, you can get away with going much further. The guaiacol scent appears to get stronger as the alcohol concentration falls towards 27 per cent, roughly the same level that is found in amaretto and sloe gin.

This happens because the aromatic substances that make each whisky individual are amphipathic, meaning that parts of them dissolve readily in water.

When water is poured into a glass of whisky, the guaiacol appears to lose about half of its chemical contacts with the alcohol, so that much more of it evaporates at the surface and contributes to the smell. If you dilute the whisky too much, however, you run the risk of drowning out the flavour of the molecule.

The scientists have diplomatically declined to take sides. ‘‘There is a fine balance between diluting the whisky to taste and diluting the whisky to waste,’’ they wrote in the journal Scientific Reports. ‘‘This balance will depend on the concentration and types of taste compounds that are characteristic for each whisky.’’

A spokeswoman for the Scotch Whisky Association concurred with the study’s findings. ‘‘Taste is one aspect of flavour,’’ she said. ‘‘The addition of water tends to increase the volatility of aroma compounds as they tend to be more ethanol-soluble than watersoluble." was shamefully part of it.

If I haven’t already apologised to Tuku, I do so today. Sorry. You didn’t help yourself, but you didn’t deserve those king-hits.

Because the media and a few hitmen in the Labour Party were nothing short of racist beat-up merchants.

The campaign sought cheap Maori-bashing headlines and ultimately it was Labour’s political gain. All involved know it.

So there’s plenty of precedent for politicians getting hammered. But I struggle to have sympathy for Turei, who quite frankly always got a free ride from a few fawning fruitcakes in the press who loved calling her ‘‘Met’’.

Turei threw herself out there, she got what all self-serving and ultimately selfish politicians deserve – a feral and feverish examination by the media.

She failed spectacularly. Her story failed to stand up and two normally mild-mannered Greens called Ken and Dave were told to shelve their principles under the section, ‘‘silence’’.

Good on them that they didn’t become blind sycophants like the others. Principles matter – please add intolerance to the Greens’ list of work-ons.

Yes, Turei’s welfare fraud admission was brave and risky but two things matter: a decent strategy and telling the whole truth.

From the real chance of a role in victory, the Greens might all be heading back to the welfare queue. MP, to now being our next prime minister.

How good is she? I asked former prime minister John Key that question on The AMShow this week. He said the camera loves her. He rates her. It was high praise.

Her handling of the Aussie mini-scandal was Helen Clark-like, no surprise given Clark’s former spin mastermind, Mike Munro, is now on Ardern’s staff.

Even National Party diehard Michelle ‘‘Bleed Blue’’ Boag was effusive in her praise, likening Ardern and her rise to another former PM: David Lange.

But surely Arden’s opponents in the blue corner will try to now expose her failings over the campaign. They must find them first.

So the narrative has been written. The ‘‘Rock’’ Bill English, versus the emerging ‘‘Rock star’’, Ardern.

Is it time to risk it all? Is Ardern too inexperienced? Not from what I’ve seen.

Crucially, Labour understands personality won’t win it on its own.

So stand by, I expect Labour to throw cash at the students this week. Oink oink – pork barrel politics at its finest.

The battle has hit the streets – two main street gangs and the same old stragglers, riff-raff and motley crew.

Who are you going to choose to lead the class of 2017? I sense National is in trouble.