We have created this article to address one of our customer questions around a whiskey nosing glass. As we write this article, we do want to say that while the focus on this article is on nosing glasses, there are many other wonderful ways to enjoy your whiskey including on the rocks and in cocktails.

The universe for nosing glasses is quite large, and in this article, we are going to cover 4 major categories of nosing glasses:

• The Glencairn glass
• The Neat glass
• The Norlan glass
• The Copita

The Glencairn Glass

 The Glencairn glass (also known as the tulip glass) is the oldest and arguably the most familiar whiskey nosing glass. The Glencairn glass has a tapered top to concentrate the aromas if the whiskey on the nose. It has a wide bowl that allows you to appreciate the color of the whiskey. This glass can be found in all Scottish and Irish distilleries as well as several other distilleries across the world.

NEAT glass

The NEAT glass was launched in 2002 and took a different approach the whiskey nosing glass. NEAT stands for Naturally Engineered Aroma Technology and their approach is to create a zone of focus at the center of the glass opening where you can smell all of aromas of the whiskey without the smell of alcohol – the alcohol smell diffuses from the sides of the glass. This glass also has a wide bulb to allow you to appreciate the color of your whiskey. NEAT is the official spirits judging glass for several international spirits competitions

Norlan glass

The Norlan glass is a double walled glass that is digitally crafted to allow for aeration that allows more alcohol to diffuse thus allowing more of the characteristics of the whiskey to appear on your nose. When nosing at the opening of the glass, the inner walls are designed to allow the alcohol to diffuse away from your nose so that you can smell only the true characteristics of your whiskey.

The Copita

There are many types of glass copitas the are used for nosing whiskey and in general, they look a bit like a mini wine glass. The long stem on copitas is meant to keep aromas from the hand away from nose and the shape at the top differs greatly among various styles. Our Designer Dram copita is designed with a large bulb to allow you to enjoy the color of your whiskey and a tapered to top to concentrate the aromas of your whiskey on the nose. It is currently only available with the purchase of the Designer Dram Experience.

No matter what type of glass you choose to drink your whiskey, we hope that it takes you on a journey in a world of wonderful flavors. We encourage you to explore all our wonderful barrels on our whiskey builder. If you need any assistance in choosing the perfect whiskey for your palate, you can always connect with our team at info@designerdram.com or on our contact page.