Whisky drinking – laying the glass on its side?

I was watching the program about Graham Hill earlier, and Jeremy Irons and David Coulthard both take a sip of whisky from what look like brandy glasses, then lay the glasses down on their sides on top of napkins.

I’ve never seen it done before

Is it to get more air to the whisky?

One of these ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glencairn_whisky_glass

I always liked these fancy ones..

I got a pair for Christmas. They really do intensify the aroma. Will see much use in the future.

It wasn’t one of those, it was a thin stemmed wide bottomed glass that looked like a brandy glass to me.

Perhaps they were doing the same thing using the wrong glass

http://www.dramming.com/2011/06/11/whisky-glassware-test-villeroy-boch-against-the-rest-of-the-world/

Like this

Stuey – where did you see the so called fancy one?

We’re they checking the legs?

Most likely just a regular snifter (“brandy glass”), they’re often used to serve whisky in parts of Scotland, they’re designed for all brown liquors but have become associated with brandy for the most part.

The design of a snifter is such that a correctly sized measure will not spill when the glass is rested on it’s side as in the program. I’ve never seen the point of resting the glass like that other than to be ostentatious, to be honest.

EDIT: seeing the pics they are in deed snifters, albeit with relatively flat bottoms.

EDIT: seeing the pics they are in deed snifters, albeit with relatively flat bottoms.

Yes, he does keep in shape, impressive for a man of his age.

Cheers Jota and Buck and for the other replies

Are standard whisky tumblers a bit rubbish then? Might treat myself to a couple of new glasses for the single malts

Stuey glass is worth a try, the top one, be warned they are quite fragile so handle and wash with care

Might as well use a bowl?

Are standard whisky tumblers a bit rubbish then?

Depends how you’re drinking, to be honest. If I’m taking water with my whisky I’ll usually use a regular tumbler as I like to let it warm in my mouth as the tastes develop (that sounds gross now I’ve written it down). If I’m drinking something neat I’ll sometimes use a snifter for warming and capturing the aromas.

I’ve got a Caol Isla Vintage edition bottle with a pair of lovely glasses, but I usually just use shot glasses, they’re a lot less fragile, particularly a couple of square Jack Daniels glasses, which are pretty thick and heavy.
As I’m usually drinking laid on the sofa with the glass down on the floor by my side, I don’t want anything too fragile there in case it gets knocked over.

Ohhh, I’ve got those Vilroy & Boch ones up there ^^ also I’ve got some fat bottomed ones, again from Vilroy..

Nice glasses they are.

Trouble is, once the whiskey is poured it doesn’t last long enough in them to notice if the glass(es) actually have an effect on the flavour, or not.. 😆

Are standard whisky tumblers a bit rubbish then? Might treat myself to a couple of new glasses for the single malts

If you wish to maximise your ability to sample whisky then there are three ways of drinking it.

1) From a Glencairn glass (as per the second post).

2) From a tulip glass (looks like a wine glass being viewed in the wrong aspect ratio).

3) Incorrectly.

I can see a logic to lying brandy glasses on their side as the whole raison d’etre of a brandy glass is to maximise surface area. Lying it on its side might increase that. But whisky, no.

amidoinitrite?

amidoinitrite?

If you’re drinking bourbon, possibly.

For a really expensive one, it’s better to neck it out of the bottle and get the cork back in quick before it starts to evaporate.

That’s amaretto, I don’t really like whisky.

Cheers

I often had my whisky glass n the side, but that was when Mrs Q forgot to take it out of m y hands after falling asleep with it.

@gofasterstripes ice? 😯 🙂

ice?

Yeah, I know I’m cool enough already, dude!

In amaretto, I like it 🙂

NJA – Member

I got a pair for Christmas. They really do intensify the aroma. Will see much use in the future.

Blind taste test.
My money, your embarrassment, name the date.

Yup, sorry, load of toss. It tastes the same if you drink it out of a teacup.

Wine is a different kettle of bananas but I spent four years doing my Wines and Spirits Education Trust Diploma, during which I tried most regularly available malts from a variety of glasses. I also did a fair bit of, ahem, erm, homework.

Giving your whisky room to breathe is for pretentious twitmongers. Get it down ye.

Hi Jools 182. thank you for posting this, it drove me mad when I saw it on the program, I have never seen this before with Brandy or whisky? Cheers Jota and Buck and for the replies, they are right they are brandy snifters and there is actually a you tube video on filling it up and laying it on its side so the brandy is just on the edge, what a load of pompous rigmarole? Great to know though what its all about and I thought my life was complicated! Thank you again for posting.

Brandy glasses, if you can lie them down you haven’t got enough brandy in it.