The olam is not noheig to make a bracha over whiskey during the meal (when hamotzie is made). What if I like to have the whiskey at the end of the meal as a closer to the meal? Could you explain in more detail the status of whiskey during the meal. When is a bracha made and not made? What are the criteria?
Answer:
If whiskey is drunk between the fish and the meat in a meal, no blessing would be made. The same is true if the whiskey is being drunk to arouse one’s appetite. However, if the whiskey is drunk as a dessert, a berachah should be made. The basic criterion is whether the whiskey is considered ‘part of the meal’ (between fish and meat, or to whet the appetite), in which case no berachah is made, or whether it is extraneous to the meal. For whiskey drunk during the meal in general, the Mishnah Berurah mentions that the custom is not to recite a blessing, but writes that one should make a shehakol on a little before the meal.
Sources: See Mishnah Berurah 174:39; Shaarei Ha-bracha (8:26).
