Impact of Tasting Glass Shapes On Flavors?

[dmarkle]

Put me down squarely in the Glencairn camp, though buyer beware. There are at least two Glencairns out there -- one which is simple molded glass and one which is "crystal". The glass ones are thicker, have a rounded lip, and usually come in gift sets or some other such thing (mine came from a Glenfiddich gift set). The crystal ones have a thinner, sharper lip. I prefer the crystal ones myself.

As far as the type of glass itself, I'm more concerned about what the glass *doesn't* do than what it does. A rocks glass, or a wide-mouthed snifter or wine glass will tend to put your face in the whiskey vapors, and for me, this highlights the burn of the alcohol, and can be off-putting, especially as the proof gets higher. IMO you can really ruin the concentrated, full nose of a fine barrel proof whiskey by throwing it into a rocks glass.

I like a small mouth to the glass -- most tasting glasses, the Glencairns, or those Reidel whiskey glasses are like that -- they concentrate the nose without blasting you with alcohol.

Why do I like the Glencairns? Truth be told, I don't care about having cool or cold whiskey, so I don't mind the stemlessness one bit. They're more durable then stemmed glasses, and after a few, you'll likely appreciate that. They have a nice big bowl to them. They look cool. They are heavily weighted at the bottom so they are unlikely to tip. Again, after a few, you will appreciate this feature more. And they notch really well in the hand. In fact, I was watching TV one night with my Glencairn in hand, and woke up three hours later -- the Glencairn hadn't moved! I hadn't spilled a drop! What else could be a better testament?

It's all personal. Your mileage may vary. My opinion is worth what you paid for it!

[BourbonGuy]

I don't know the name of that glass, but the Liquor Barn in Louisville sells similar glasses for about $2. I usually reach for them over my glencairns.

Thank you, but I am in New York (Long Island)

I went to their site, but did not see them.

Maybe John will read this and chime in.

[MJL]

Well, I'm thinking different glasses have different purposes. Sometimes I really want to analyze the nose and really sort out what is going on with a specific spirit. On the other hand, sometimes I just want to watch TV, have some brown booze with ice and relax. I find that I must turn off fans (hey I live in Florida, we have fans on all the time) the TV, computer, etc to be able to really focus on what I am tasting. I break out the "tasting" glasses at that moment. The rocks glasses are just fine for watching Casablanca or the Maltese Falcon, when I am watching movies and want to focus on the movie and not the booze.