Purpose of Decanters?


I read somewhere that glass decanters are best for blended scotch and that single malts should be poured straight out of the bottle. Is this true? If so, then why? What is the purpose of a decanter (other than for display)?
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Showing 1 response by larryi

I can't imagine that there is any advantage to decanting distilled spirits. With scotch, you want to minimize exposure to air (oxygen); some people even inject nitrogen to displace the oxygen in order to reduce exposure once a bottle is opened. Decanters are strictly for appearances when it comes to distilled stuff. For wine, they are used to aerate the wine for an hour or so prior to serving.