Originally Posted by elchivito

The vast majority of commercial whiskeys are 80 proof. Those 90 and over are not the norm, although straight rye whiskeys tend to be in the 90 and over category. I have one in my stash, Old Potrero, that's actually bottled at barrel proof, 126 I believe. The makers recommend a splash of water or an ice cube to open it up a bit. It makes a killer Manhattan. 2 measures Old Potrero, one measure Lillet, 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters and a lemon twist.
In a bar, anyone who drinks 80 proof whiskey straight is going to notice their drink being watered pretty easily. The higher proofed stuff, especially in a rocks cocktail, can be hit with water and the average drinker will not know. Wild Turkey 101, let's say a bar wants to get 27 shots out of that bottle, at 5 bucks apiece retail. If the bar manager can weasel two shots worth of water into that bottle, nobody's going to know and that's 10 bucks pure gravy. It happens all the time.
The stuff I'm going to barrel is from a test batch made at a small distillery that is experimenting with rye but aren't marketing it yet. Anyone who gets any of it isn't going to complain about it being watered I don't believe.