Scotch: Neat or On the Rocks?
When ordering scotch, it’s often important to indicate how you’d like it. There are really only two choices in the scotch world:
- Neat means you want the scotch without anything else.
- On the Rocks means you want the scotch served with ice.
If you use any other terms, you’ll just confuse the bartender. If you forget which is which, just explain it and the bartender will gladly serve it the way you like it. 
In places that really know their scotch, they will also offer you little water on the side of your neat drink, so you can dilute it a wee bit (brings out some of the hidden aromatics). A good scotch place would never insult you by offering such a fine beverage on the rocks. You can ask, but they will give you a well deserved eyebrow.
My mantra is that if it tastes so horrible that you need to super cool and massively dilute it to handle it – don’t drink it! If you are too weak to handle the drink straight up – don’t drink it!