Glassware

The half sized glencairn glass I was talking about are just smaller versions of the traditional glass, they do seem to work well, as to if the distillery would ship to Canada, I can't see why not as it is not alcohol. Just drop them the question ..

@Tom92. I sometimes enjoy my whisky from a tumbler. Especially when I'm sharing drams with friends not terribly into the hobby. I think its a very classic and good-looking glass but, as @Victor points out, a big part of the experience is lost since the nosing becomes so hard.

Another vote for medium sized brandy snifters. Glencairns would be my second choice.

Aren't the brandy glasses a bit big? What do you feel is the benefit of that? I prefer a smaller glass,I feel that everything gets more concentrated in a smaller tulip like the glencairn.

@Alexsweden I completely understand where you are coming from, but at the same time you serve the same measure of brandy/cognac in a brandy ballon as you would whisky??

@Alexsweden, brandy snifters come in a variety of sizes, some very large, some quite small. I like the medium and medium-small ones. At home I use some 124 mm x 90 mm (widest) in dimension, by home measure. I have a couple of small ones I take for travel on the road which are 92 mm x 68 mm. A standard Glencairn (with base) is about 115 mm x 68 mm. As for benefits, that remains for each individual to try them out and see what exeperiences he or she has. As a general observation, I almost always get better fuller noses (more flavours) and fuller palates with snifters than I do with any of the other medium or small glasses. The best way to test the different glasses for oneself is to do systematic side-by-side comparisons with very intensely flavoured and very complex whiskies. Some glasses will present entire dimensions missing from the experiences obtained from using other glasses. My suggestion: try something like Bruichladdich Black Art (19-22 years old) or Talisker 57 Degrees North for some of your comparisons.

Now the big bowl-shaped glasses give some great results, probably the best of all, in my experience, but they are a little clumsy to use, store, transport, and clean. I don't use them very often for these latter reasons.

@Tom92, you bring up a good point about the amount of whisky you would pour into one of the large glasses, for tasting. Yes, I do pour a larger pour if I am using one of the big balloon glasses, than I do for a small glass. With a smaller glass like a Glencairn I feel that I can work with as little as 10 ml, and still get a nose. With a big bowl I will want at least 25 ml in the glass to get the full effect. Will much less than 25 ml work in a big glass? Probably. But because I like the big flavours, I usually don't economize on the pour sizes. I want a full nose, not a faint one.

As for small glasses, I like them too, and they are extremely handy. I regularly use some 108 mm x 42 mm copitas (probably sold for digestif glasses) for road trips. These work fine too.

Perhaps there's a name for the style, but I like these ones. The only ones I have are branded glasses from gift sets and promos. They make great all-rounders for me. Better than much of my fancy, more expensive glencairns and "specialized" glassware imo.

www.blackadder.nu/images/tasteglass.jpg

hunggar you dummy. 2 mins of googling and I've found the name. Viticole sherry glasses.

But of course, as we've established, different glasses have different intended effects.

@hunggar, I'd call that a copita shape.

@Victor, thanks. Since it's been established that my glassware lingo leaves much to be desired, any thoughts on what to call this one? Also a fan of this type.

1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNW7nAEXdUw/VI8lzWLUsfI/…

@hunggar, the top of the glass didn't come across in the photo, but, from what I can see of the glass, that looks a lot like a stemmed version of the Glencairn shape, though it looks like it may flare a bit at the top, if the curvature continues beyond the captured portion of the photograph. A flare at the top would be unusual.

@Victor, wrong photo perhaps, These are stemmed versions of the glencairn, yes. But they are also smaller in proportion, Mine were a gift set from Amrut, and they actually have markings to help you measure your pour. My most apt description would be "smaller, stemmed glencairns," although I'm sure there's a far less clumsy name for them than that.

I believe that the reason the medium Brandy snifter generates more aroma, there is more surface area in that shape of glass. When you swirl the whiskey or what ever spirit you're sampling around in the glass, there is more surface area coated with spirit evaporating.

This can be a good thing when your searching for everything thing the spirit has. Sometimes it can be too much, alcohol. There is no perfect glass IMHO.

Like Vic says, try several and see how each changes the spirit.

I like the medium Brandy snifter or glencarian.

My brandy bowls will take almost 40cl so I'd probably want to get smaller ones before I start pouring.

The 2nd picture that hunggar shows are quite a bit different to the glencairn glass, if they are the same as I have they are quite delicate, they do offer a good nose but I still prefer the glencairn ..

@hunggar

I think they are called tulip glasses.

@sengjc, tulip glasses tend to get narrow at near the top but then widen again just at the rim. These one's don't widen at the rim. Here's a better shot of them:

3.bp.blogspot.com/-J968Ak53-l4/VI8lzE-coSI/…

My Canadian Glencairn glasses have just arrived, so Wednesday I shall give them a test drive with a few of my fav whiskies

@Tom92

Be careful @Tom92, they hold a goodly pour. That's why they are called 'Canadian'.

@paddockjudge Another benefit of the 'Canadian Glencairn' is not only they hold more of your favorite beverage, but that also means you don't have to get up off the couch as often for another pour - lol.

I couldn't wait til tomorrow to try my new glasses, had to try them tonight after work. First a Aberlour 12yo followed by a Aberlour a'Bunadh batch 48. @paddockjudge you were very correct in saying to be careful. They hold a goodly pour indeed. Not that I'm complaining of course

Just got an order going for a couple of boxes of these:

shop-spiegelau.com/brands/spiegelau/…

Love the shape.

@sengjc, interesting shape. Please tell us how they perform for nosing and tasting.

@hunggar

These look to be quite similar and quite good value too: smwhisky.com.au/catalogue.php/…

@Victor

Taking a while for them to despatch... :/

Finally, received these today:

images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/…

Unfortunately box no. 2 was not so lucky as one of them got smashed in transit.

images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/…

In comparison with some others: images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/…

Will do a taste test to see how they fare.

Here is a new style of whisky glass engineered to maxmize both the social and aroma features. The link below is to the Kickstarter project for the "Norlan Whisky Glass". In the video, Jim McEwan is given a prototype to test, and he says that he would use if professionally.

kickstarter.com/projects/norlan/…

Looks like it might be worth trying...

Have just acquired some new glasses, LUIGI BORMIOLLI VINOTEQUE SPIRITS SNIFTER 170ML Try them Wednesday but with what whisky?

@Tom92

Have these too - works well with a sherried malt that has plenty of sweetness in the bouquet. A well aged Glenfarclas would do the trick, methinks.

@tfahey1298

Looks promising, but way too expensive to replace a glencairn. Maybe in 10 yrs when the price comes down