The term branch water took a bit of investigation and appears to be no more than an obsolete term for spring water. Seems just too far 'out of the box' and I wager anyone under 30 will just go 'Huh?'
For this picture, you really needed bourbon, not Scotch. This is sort of like a mixed metaphor-type of thing. Other than that, it's a very nice image. 7
Ya know - this was the very first thing I thought of when this challenge was announced. I knew I didn't have the chops to pull it off, but you've done quite nicely. The horizon seems slightly tilted to me (and a distraction rather than an artistic plus), but otherwise the focus and colors/tones are dead on. Great job.