Why don't bars keep their bottles in the fridge to avoid using ice? Maybe this is a non-question for connoisseurs, but as a non-drinking person I have no idea why it is so common to order certain alcoholic drinks at a bar "on the rocks" (with ice or even special "whiskey rocks" which are basically refrigerated non-dissolving shapes of plastic/metal/glass) instead of just keeping the whole bottle in the fridge. Then it wouldn't be watered down by melting ice, and be cool enough from the moment the bartender is done pouring it.

Cursory research says repeated temperature change may alter certain alcohols' flavor, but then for other spirits it doesn't seem to be a problem, so that's ambiguous. However, at a regular bar's rate of consumption, I suppose there wouldn't be enough time for a bottle to go bad − it would be empty before then. Or maybe the effect is so strong that even one cycle of temperature change is enough. I don't know.

My question is: Why most alcohols which become drinks into which ice is usually put, are not stored in a fridge instead, so that the ice isn't needed?
I can only speak for whiskies as I use to sell and give out samples of that stuff.

There are a couple of things to understand first about whiskies.


During the aging process of the whisky, the whisky is placed in a barrel to add flavour to it.
If the alcohol percent is below 40%, the whisky has a hard time retaining the flavour of the barrel. This is not impossible but it is easier if it is 40% or higher.


The reason why there is on the rocks vs neat is due to this 40% alcohol threshold. 

If you add ice, it will dilute the whisky below 40% alcohol content which will allow the flavours to "pop out" more. This is really good for new whisky drinkers trying to understand "how to taste" whiskies. 

So for whiskies, it is not so much about cooling the drink but rather allowing the flavours of the barrel to be more prominent to the drinker. For veteran whisky drinkers, they may not need the ice and prefer it at room temperature and thus, they would not want it cold.