OK so this story have been a long time coming. This is my first story for the re-launch of Whiskychat.com
One of the main things that got me back on track with this site is, of all things, Twitter. I would have never believed it but there is any amazing Whisk(e)y / Bourbon niche on Twitter that happily took me in with open arms to join with them and talk about our love for all things Whisk(e)y.
So where do the Whisky Stones come in, your wondering? Well one of the first people I had some interaction with on Twitter was Mr. Andrew Hellman who goes by WhiskyDaze. From his Twitter profile I found my way to Teroforma and a very interesting product called Whisky Stones.

I soon become very interested in what these stones can bring to my whisky drinking experience. To give you a little information on what Whisky Stones are & what they do, here is a quote from the Teroforma website.

“More mellow than ice, our natural soapstone Whisky Stones™ will cool your next dram just enough to take the edge off without diluting its perfectly balanced flavors. Milled exclusively for Teroforma in Vermont by some of the oldest soapstone workshops in the US, simply chill the stones in the freezer, add 3 or so to your glass of spirits, let stand for 5 minutes and enjoy!”

So you see you take the neat little soapstone “cubes” chill them then add them to your dram of choice to give it a bit of a chill without diluting your drink with ice that would melt. Personally, I immediately thought ‘Wow – that is genius’ and that I really have to get some as I think it is something definitely worth giving a try. Well no sooner am I thinking that I ‘need’ these, the awesome folks over at Teroforma ship me over a set of samples to put through their paces.
So, now comes the hard part – what to choose as the first drink to try with the stones. I spent a good day or two thinking about this a bit, as normally I drink most of my whisky ‘neat’, I had to put a little thought into the right choice. Then it hit me .. now some of my Whisky tweeps (that’s my whisky friends on twitter) might not totally agree, as Canadian Whisky doesn’t get a lot of discussion, I have a Canadian Whisky that is truly one of my favorites and it is definitely a ‘sipper’ that would surly benefit from the chill of the Whisky Stones without the drawback of the ice dilution. My choice was a nice couple finger pour of Crown Royal Cask No. 16 an amazing product of the Crown Royal line.
So after chilling the Whisky Stones for a good day whilst I decided on the right whisky, I sat down for a nice glass of Cask No. 16 with a couple Whisky Stones. I put three of the stones in the glass and the made the pour of the whisky. I let it sit for a spell while choosing something to accompany me and my dram on TV. Next was to sit back and relax and see what the drink was like.
Well .. I absolutely loved it .. the Whisky Stones had brought a mellow chill to the glass that opened up the Whisky just right, but that’s only the beginning. As I mentioned I love to just sip the Cask No. 16 and let it keep me company for a while. What the Whisky Stones did was provide the ability to maintain just that mellow chill while not altering the composition of the whisky & allowed for the glass to be enjoyed over a period of time without having to worry if the dram was getting to watered down. I have to say that for my first run with the Whisky Stones I have to give them a major thumbs up.
Now my conclusion is not always shared by everyone, some people think its just a gimmick, some don’t care for the look of the stones in the glass, or the ‘thought’ of the stones in the glass. Some whisky ‘purest’ totally dismiss the idea of something like the Whisky Stones, but really, how many of us are purest and how many of us are just whisky lovers or enthusiasts?
I know that I enjoy whisky and drinking whisky and that if something like Whisky Stones can make that even more enjoyable for me then I say I am all for it.