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Review of the Best Bourbon Glasses
What is the best glass to drink Bourbon Whiskey from? Does the glassware really impact smell, taste or characteristics observed in the same bourbon? - it may be impossible to completely scientifically answer these questions since the entire aspect of smell and taste are subjective, but we dive into the best possible answer here.
Originally posted 15May 2015 updated 08April 2021
We analyzed the now 8 most common glasses for drinking bourbon and rye whiskey:
TL;DR - Glassware matters! The Glencairn, NEAT and Norlan glasses were the best for the nose and palate but the comfort of the grip and delicate nature of each should be addressed before purchase.
We have reviewed each glass with a 1oz pour of Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond 6yr (freshly opened) and allowed to sit in each glass for 15 minutes without a cover. Most agree HH BIB 6yr offers a nose of caramel, vanilla, and oak with additional mouthing of fruit notes, and a palate that consists of vanilla, caramel, toffee, sweet corn, and oak/char. A very complete and solid bourbon great for this experiment.
We only tasted and did not swallow to prevent palate shift due to intoxication. Each person reviewed the glasses in the opposite order to reduce the impact from one glass to another. We rated each glass on three major factors:
The following are the results of three individual's tests for each glass:
Libbey Shot Glass: 
Libbey Rocks Glass: 
Glencairn Whiskey Glass: 
NEAT Spirits Glass:
Libbey Perfect Whiskey Glass:
Norlan Whiskey Glass: 
Riedel Vinum Cognac Glass:
Aged & Ore Duo Glass 
~Conclusion~
Whiskey glassware matters! Two of the testers preferred the Glencairn glass while one preferred the NEAT glass overall. I am sure each person will have preference, so my opinion is to find a glass you like and stick with it. You should try to compare bourbons using the same glassware. For this reason (keeping the same glass in most bourbon tastings) I use the glencairn. The glencairn is moderately priced, and is often found in higher end whiskey bars and in many distillery tasting rooms.
All kidding aside, my favorite vessel is a Willett glen. It is hybrid of a traditional glen and a Libbey perfect. Only drawbacks are when doing notes, you need an ounce to reach optimal surface area as anything short of that will miss nuanced notes on the nose and it is hard to nail exact color due to shallow depth and non-parabolic walls.
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