To those who want to know, the secret of the month is the Tesco own label 12 year old single malt. Won quite a number of rosettes in the latest round of 'my whisky is better than yours' championships up thisaways as conducted by those clever buggers who swill and spit it out rather than swallow....

It is, I think, £15 a bottle and worth every penny.....
As to water and a dram, its very much to your own taste but (caveat mode on) water (or ice) is the only thing I think you should add if you want to taste the produce. The use of Coke, Irn Bru or Lemonade or similar simply overpowers the drink to the extent that you are simply drinking Coke/whatever with a shot of alcohol in it....
If you are partaking of cask strength or similar malt then water is preferred so as to bring it down to tastable levels, rather than having your palette burnt to buggery by strong spirits. Unless thats what you want that is!!
Also, the alternate cheapskate method of partaking blended cheap as chips own brand Scotch is to keep it in the fridge and get it as cold as possible. Takes the sharp edge of the mixture of good and cheap....
