“There’s no wrong way to drink whiskey,” says Bill Thomas, owner of the Washington, D.C., whiskey palace Jack Rose Dining Saloon. “Just drink whiskey!” At his Dupont Circle bar, Thomas has one of the largest collections of whiskey around—thousands of bottles of Scotch, rye and bourbon, priced at as much as $9 for a one-ounce pour to well over $100. There’s one way he likes to serve all of them.
“If your preference is neat, rocks, in a cocktail—we’ll do it,” Thomas says. “But we will recommend neat and the default glass we serve in is the Glencairn.”
Thomas is referring to the globally famous Glencairn glass originally designed and produced by Glencairn Crystal in East Kilbride, Scotland. He keeps around 750 of them on hand at any given time, and can run through 275 vessels over the course of a 55-person Sunday tasting.
“It gives the whiskey an opportunity to open up, and the glass funnels up toward the nose,” he tells me. “The nose is as important as the palate, so we want a glass that’s going to accommodate all the senses.”
What Is a Glencairn Glass?
It’s no overstatement to call the Glencairn glass the industry standard for whiskey tasting. The stemless glass has heft and is ideal for concentrating the flavors and aromas of the spirit.
The staying power, and supreme influence, of the Glencairn glass is in its form: A six-ounce glass designed to hold a roughly 3/4-ounce pour with plenty of space in the bowl for the whiskey to meet the air. It also features a high, chimney-like design to allow the vapors to rise up to the nose. Its bulbous bowl enables whiskey to be swirled, while its tapered top allows alcohol vapors (which can dull the senses) to exit the glass, enhancing the aromas. Additionally, the glass can be tilted and rolled on its side, to help examine a spirit’s color and expose it to air, without spilling.
It’s a popular design. Glencairn Crystal sold one million of their whiskey glasses in 2023, and has now sold over 25 million glasses worldwide, according to Martin Duffy, the company’s North American Brand Representative.
Additionally, Glencairn has become shorthand for similarly shaped whiskey-tasting glasses.
“I’ve had tussles with folk at distilleries or bars who call a Glencairn a ‘tulip’ glass or miscategorize it in some way,” he says. “You’ve got to be careful or the Glencairn will be the Kleenex of glassware.”
But there’s no denying that it already is. The Glencairn name is everywhere now. Many Glencairns sold aren’t in fact made by Glencairn Crystal.
The Glencairn Glass’s Origins
Considering how widespread the Glencairn glass is, it’s a design that almost didn’t come into being.
Glencairn Crystal, which opened in 1981, started out making decanters and matching glassware. In the 1980s, its founder Raymond Davidson had an idea to bring to the consumer market a glass that was specific to tasting whiskey.
While distillers have been using similarly shaped glasses known as “nosing glasses” for centuries, there wasn’t something targeted to consumers. Davidson worked with master distillers to develop the shape—which riffs on a Sherry copita—and made a prototype. But he never put the design into production. His son discovered the design 20 years later and resumed the process of bringing it to market.
The Glencairn glass had its coming out party in 2001 at WhiskeyFest in Chicago. The crystal glasses, then, as now, are made by the German glassware giant Stolzle.
How the Glencairn Compares to Other Whiskey Glasses
The Glencairn isn’t the only whiskey-specific glass on the market, and not even the only whiskey glass that avowed Glencairn fans drink from.
Unlike a typical rocks glass, in which whiskey is often served over ice, the Glencairn is meant for serving whiskey neat. And unlike a shot glass, which is designed for quickly downing whatever’s in it, the glass is designed to help you savor the whiskey—like stemware does for wine.
Though Thomas’s default glass at Jack Rose is a Glencairn, his more ecumenical, there’s-no-wrong-way-to-drink-whiskey attitude means that, depending on the setting and the tipple, he may reach for a rocks glass or a brandy snifter.
For those looking for an ideal glass for single-malt Scotch, the Vinum glass from Riedel debuted a good decade before the Glencairn.
“The Vinum was originally developed for Islay because of its peatiness,” says Maximilian Riedel, president and CEO of the Austrian glassware stalwart. “Whiskey has very high levels of acidity, similar to the high acidity you also find in a Burgundy or a Pinot Noir. Both glasses have the little flare at the lip, which deals with the acidity in wine and also in spirits.”
Maximilian’s father George Riedel developed the Vinum after visiting Scotland’s famous Whiskey Trail in 1992. He designed the glass to have high walls, which help keep your nose away from the alcohol. The flared lip brings the whiskey to the tip of the tongue, cutting the harshness of the booze and boosting the floral and fruit flavors of the spirit.
“You’ll get enhanced sweetness on the palate, but the shape of the glass means that when you put your nose in you’ll get the peat smoke and characteristics you get in single malt,” Riedel says.
Most importantly, the Vinum is designed for the Scotch to be tasted neat.
“With Riedel glasses, everything needs to be neat and straight up,” he says.
He also notes that the Vinum is not ideal for bourbon tasting. When Riedel worked on a bourbon glass with Jim Beam, they found that bourbon lovers wanted a more alcoholic punch in the nose—an effect the Vinum is designed to offset.
There are subtle distinctions between these glasses, to be certain. But for serious whiskey drinkers, although the barware conversation may begin with a Glencairn, it most assuredly doesn't end there.
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In the Shop
Personalized Glencairn Whiskey Gift Set With Wooden Box
In Stock | $130
Published: July 22, 2024
