I got a response from a well-known Independent bottler in Scotland, their "tasting specialist" wrote:
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You are correct, ice does kill the flavour of whisky by closing in some of the flavours and highlighting others. On the other hand, the addition of water will change a whisky and open it up, taking some of the alcohol away. At the end of the day it is personal taste if you use water or not (but never ice). Personally some whiskies I drink straight and some I like with a few drops of water. The professional nosers will tell you that you should nose whisky at 20% abv – but for me this is too weak to taste.
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