The standard size of a rocks glass allows you to eye-ball a pour pretty easily as either a 1/3 or 1/4 fill, equaling a two-ounce pour. A double rocks glass will clock in at 12 to 16 ounces. The bowl of the glass is generally six to eight ounces.
Ultimately, by reading this guide, you’re sure to know which glass will help you maximize the whisky tasting experience you’re aiming for. Practicality was also a consideration, albeit a secondary one. We’re also ranking them, based on which allows you to pick up the most flavor notes. Today we’re breaking down the five iconic types of whiskey glasses. If you’re simply sipping for pleasure with no real structure, the number of options increases, though some might hold the whiskey back a little. If you’re following the traditional tasting process - that is nosing, sipping, adding a drop of water, and sipping again– there are a couple of options with their own pluses and minuses. So what glass should you be using to drink your whisk(e)y from? That sort of depends on how or why you’re drinking whiskey in the first place. But if you’re having fun tasting whiskey, you might as well maximize that fun by picking a good glass for the occasion. Will the wrong glass ruin your experience? Of course not. Too wide of a bowl and the ethanol (or alcohol smell/heat) will concentrate and overpower the rest of the sip.
Too wide of a mouth and nuances begin to get lost as the liquid spreads across the rim of the glass (sloshing into the sides of your mouth and landing directly on the mid-palate). The shape of a glass can alter the smell and taste of a pour of whiskey pretty dramatically. Are you drinking from styrofoam or a Solo cup? If not then you should be good, right? Picking the right whiskey glass feels… like it shouldn’t really matter.