Adding water in bottle

No problem adding water to the bottle if you are the only one drinking the bottle. If you will serve it to others to try also, they may well want to try it at full strength. I would want it undiluted.

It is your bottle. Do what you want with it!

I agree with @Victor's libertarian approach to your own bottle of A'Bunadh... do what you want with it but be sure to disclose if it has been tampered with if you're serving it. I tasted something from a bottle of A'Bunadh batch 28 that was either watered down or entirely replaced and felt cheated. I have not returned to the place where I was served since.

I would point out 2 things:

1. Everyone likes their whisky with different amounts of water. If you add water to the bottle it takes away that flexibility for others.

2. It has been my experience that, gassed or not, higher strength whisky keeps better than lower strength over time. If you water it down, I would consider whether or not that sets you up potentially for it to go off more quickly.

I would not add water to a bottle.

Consider this. Adding water changes the flavor of a whisky. You add it, wait a good five minutes and then drink your whisky when you feel it is at it's best. Now we all know air changes your whisky over time with exposure. What about water? What if your whisky gets just where you want it with water and 5-10 minutes but then continues to change in the bottle.

Thanks for the replies! I'm thinking I will not add water to the bottle, at the least I'll try it neat a couple more times. 60.1% is a lot though :P

As others have mentioned or alluded to it is my experience that high ABV whiskies seem to retain their flavor/aroma profile better. That being said I find that to enjoy these aromas and flavors I often add a small amount of water to open up the whisky. I use what Ralfy refers to as his "universal measuring device" (a teaspoon). I usually end up adding approx 3 teaspoons to a 2 oz pour of A'Bunadh as this seems to bring the alcohol level down to an enjoyable level for my tastes. Your mileage may differ. I would never add water to "my bottle" as the option to retry neat or offer a dram to a friend who has nor experienced this dram is lost. I also enjoy the "ceremony" of adding my own water at time of the pour. Some of my friends scoff at the exactness of the teaspoon measure depending on what I am consuming. I drink most if not all whiskies in the 46% or less category neat but as I said before find that a bit of water help the high ABV drams to open up.

I, too, wouldn't water an entire bottle for the reasons already given here.

But don't worry too much about it if you do want to try that. After all, everything that's not cask strength was similarly watered down by the bottles long ago, and it mostly does just fine.

(Also, consider splitting the bottle in two and only watering one, as an experiment!)