Do we push the malt forward, and the vatting backward??

[St.Peat]

Hello, all --

At the WOW Expo in San Francisco this March, I saw quite a few people toting and extolling the virtues of some rather cumbersome (500ml and larger!) snifters.

I was able to try one side-by-side with the Expo's default glass, a wine/water glass with a suitably shaped bowl. The difference was amazing!

Have you used one of these?

If so, please give reasons for liking or disliking this type of snifter for nosing whiskies, and whether you use this glass regularly.

If not, perhaps you will mention what you have used and liked best, as well as if you use a particular glass regularly.

St.Peat

PS -- I encourage all of you to at least try one of these -- you will notice a difference. Though, whether you like it or not may be another story!

[This message has been edited by St.Peat (edited 26 April 2002).]

[hpulley]

I haven't tried the exact glass you mention but my preferred glass is a large brandy snifter which could well hold 500mL (I'll have to check). The difference between the large snifter and small ones or standard bar whisky tumblers here in Canada is quite striking. The snifter really concentrates the vapours well, though for cheap whiskies with bad noses the tumbler is still best

[BruceCrichton]

I prefer the new tulip-shaped whisky glass which is shaped the same as a tasting glass but is made more solidly.

As for bad whiskies, why are you drinking, them? You can't tell a bad whisky until you taste one and you can't tell what it's like until you've drunk it out of a proper whisky glass to get the full flavour.

[Ize]

I as well prefer tulip shaped glass, Lagavulin glass is a beauty.

[This message has been edited by Ize (edited 29 April 2002).]

[hpulley]

Why drink a bad one at all? When you can't try it by the dram but want to try it so you buy a whole bottle. After a good number of drams, each time hoping the next will be better, there comes a point when it is just bad whisky. Few charities accept opened bottles...

[Gate]

I think the Riedel glass is probably my favourite - maybe something to do with the very fine rim. It might be interesting to experiment by tasting an old favourite from a series of different glasses - but sometimes how the glass feels when you're holding it is as important as anything. Every now and again the heavy cut glass tumbler just hits the spot - especially for Talisker. Is this heresy?

[Chris Brousseau]

My favorite is the glass made by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Leith.

Chris

[Nodin]

Hi all...I'm new here. My favorite glass is a tulip shaped crystal glass from Finland...directs the nose, feels good in the hand and looks damn nice!
I also really like the new Blender's Malt Glass (directs the nose like a chimney!)

[Ize]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nodin:
<B>Hi all...I'm new here. My favorite glass is a tulip shaped crystal glass from Finland...directs the nose, feels good in the hand and looks damn nice!
I also really like the new Blender's Malt Glass (directs the nose like a chimney!)</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Just curiosity, do you recall manufacturer's name (brand) of that glass? Iittala perhaps?

[Deactivated Member]

Hi,

I prefer the tulip shaped glasses, simply because you'll get the whole benefit of aroma's.......

Slainte,

Erik

[Nodin]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ize:
[B] Just curiosity, do you recall manufacturer's name (brand) of that glass? Iittala perhaps?

Yes, I beieve that is the maker...
Taa



[This message has been edited by Nodin (edited 09 May 2002).]

[St.Peat]

Can some of you paste an image of the glass(es) you are speaking of?

I do not have a picture of the large snifter I mentioned, but imagine a standard snifter shape, and now imagine that it can hold nearly a full bottle of whisky.

Thanks for the images!

[Ize]

Lagavulin glass: http://www.thewhiskystore.de/glaeser/lagavu_6.jpg

Kippis,
Ize

[St.Peat]

Thanks, Ize --

Is this the kind of glass referred to as a sherry copita?

Occasionally I enjoy holding a glass by the stem, and this one looks long enough for that. Some stems are so short as to be nothing but a pain, or an unpleasant awkwardness.

Cheers!

[St.Peat]

265 oz brandy snifter!

265 oz = 7840 ml = 7.84 L = 2.07 gal !!
http://www.steps-to-memories.com/gl-brandy-snifters.html

[Ize]

Heh, I guess that glass won't give anything else than scent from one dram. Of course, if your dram is very very big you might even got something to taste too.

[This message has been edited by Ize (edited 14 May 2002).]

[Gate]

I have been as scientific as I ever get on a glass-by-glass test, and I have now concluded that Irish pot stills (Green Spot used for this), bourbon (Old Rip 15 y.o.), Lowland malts (Auchentoshan 10 y.o.) and lighter-bodied blends (J&B Ultima) are best from the Riedel whisky glass; anything big and peaty (Lagavulin PX finish, Talisker) worked best out of a Cadenheads thistle-shaped glass (I have seen identical Ardbeg ones); Speysiders (Macallan "Thirties", Balvenie 15 y.o. Single barrel) and non-peaty Highlanders (Glengoyne) were best from the "Whisky Live" glass. And for just sitting down and drinking whatever takes your fancy while watching the World Cup, the half-kilo lead crystal tumbler leaves all the rest eating dust. The conclusions hardly matter, though, because the research was such a pleasure I think I shall have to do it again.

[This message has been edited by Gate (edited 19 June 2002).]

[yorkie]

Any glass without a hole in the bottom!!

Seriously I am curently partaking from a Bowmore glass that has the rounded shape resembling that of a curvacous young lady.... maybe I have had sufficient for tonight!

[blackkeno]

Over the past year, I've greatly expanded my glassware. I like to change glasses to get different experiences with the same whisky. I even do "glassware verticles" sometimes. I generally drink without ice. Contrary to preferring to spend my money on whisky (like most of you I spend plenty) I think great and diverse glassware is a small price to pay to experience a great whisky better or different. Here are my reviews of my favorates:

1) "The Blender's Malt Glass" by Glencairn Chrystal (mine are from Whisky Magazine). This is now my favorate glass. It's also a good value at 5 pounds for a chrystal glass. It is my favorate nosing glass. It seems to somehow stregthen some of the lighter notes without making the stronger ones overpowering. This provides me with a broader bouquet filled with distinct character. The palate experience would probably be my number two. It creates a broad taste that is probably enhanced by the nose. Handfeel is also great--confortable and firm.

2) Maison du whisky (medium size/very expensive). The best handfeel of any of these glasses. Especially confortable for a bourbon. Nose and palate rival the Blender's Malt Glass yet create a different experience. I also have the larger size, but the nose becomes a bit too intense for me. I do like it for lighter spirits though and for nosing at different distances.

3) Reidel Single Malt Glasses, hand blown (very expensive). These proved the best palate experience for me. The spirit flows across the tongue bringing out flavors I would miss with other glasses. The nose would probably rank 3 or 4. Because I was more of a palate than nose man, these were my favorate until getting the Whisky Magazine glasses above. I don't really care for the handfeel. The stem gets a bit in the way and they are too delicate.

4)Kusac chrystal. Very good nose, very good palate and very good handfeel. The flared lip (like the Reidel's) helps the pour and seems more comfortable for nosing too me.

5) Reidel Single Malt Glasses (machine made). Good nose, good palate, handfeel similar to handblown but at least not quite so delicate.

6) Ardbeg glasses with covers. Very good nose, good palate, good handfeel (although I'm not fond of the stem). These are fun. The cover is great for maintaining the bouquet. I do prefer chrystal to glass though.

Pardon much of this note being a cross post.

[Veach]

I use a glass that came from my days as Archivist at United Distillers at Stitzel-Weller. It is one of the glasses from the quality control lab. I decided that if this is what they were using to make decisions about their bourbon, then I should try to taste using that type of glass as well. That way I know that at least as far as the glassware is concerned, I will be smelling and tasting the same thing as the Master Distiller, Ed Foote was sensing.

Mike Veach

[Steve]

Whilst drinking out of an overlarge brandy glass may indeed concentrate the nose and enhance the palate, I rather suspect that those advantages are outweighed considerably by the fact that you'll look like an idiot.

And although the glasses we were given at WhiskyLive were rather good, again, it's not something you could use anywhere where you might be noticed......

As someone else noted above, a nice chunkily-based but fine crystal tumbler will serve the purpose for anything other than a Jilly Goolden type session, and the fewer Jilly Gooldens the better, IMO.

Alas the desire not to be considered pretentious may lessen the taste experience for you, but at least you'll still have friends to drink with......

Cheers!

[Deactivated Member]

Hi all,

As we all could read in the WM, David Broome made a nice article about vatting.
I personally can say that David had some points there(mainly explaned by the experts). A vatting is a product with an own identity, and it's just the question do we like it or not? Sometimes a vatting can be very handy, especially when you look for something with a certain complexity, although there are some malts who are very complex too. I usually drink a vatting, when I can't make choice out of my malt collection. I think it's unfair to push only the malts forward while we have some nice vattings, waiting to be enjoyed, and even in grain whiskies are nice vattings too. But sometimes we thing that by vatting the whole identity disappeared towards a single malt, maybe it does, or maybe it doesn't, it still depends how you look against it. Like they said in WM, "sometimes you look for specific flavors in a vatting, that a single malt doesn't have", and what's wrong with that???

Erik

[Gate]

I totally agree. I love single malts for the variety from one malt to the next (a Caol Ila is utterly unlike a Glengoyne which is nothing like a Springbank which is completely different from a Bladnoch, etc.). But if they didn't taste good, I wouldn't be interested in any of them. And IMO, if a vatted malt tastes good, then it's a good whisky (all the better if it hasn't been coloured or chillfiltered, of course). And it surely is true that a good vatting makes something new, not just the sum of its parts: the Famous Grouse Vintage Malt is one such, as is the Cadenheads 9-year-old Islay.