Best Whiskey Glasses: Glencairn, Norlan, Rocks Glasses

The Paris tumbler is the everyday rocks glass from Zwiesel Glas, the German maker whose glasses fill hotel and restaurant bars. It holds about 10.5 ounces, stands 3.5 inches tall, and has a thick base that sits well in the hand and survives being set down hard.

It is made in Germany in Tritan, Zwiesel's lead-free crystal, and it goes in the dishwasher. The shape is simple and straight-sided, with enough room for one large cube and a proper pour, and it doubles as a short water or juice glass.

Skip it if you want cut glass or a sense of occasion. It is clean and well made, and not the glass anyone photographs.

The catch. Plain enough that it reads as a good bar glass rather than a gift.

Riedel is best known for undecorated wine glasses. Its tumbler collection is the exception, and the Spey, named after the Scottish river at the heart of whisky country, carries a cut pattern that Riedel says draws on the Art Nouveau period. It is machine-made crystal, holds about 10.4 ounces and stands about 4 inches tall.

The generous surface suits a large cube and a short pour, and Riedel rates it dishwasher safe. It is the glass for someone who wants a rocks glass with some ornament but finds heavy cut crystal too formal.

Skip it if you want a set of six or eight for a party; sold in pairs, it gets expensive quickly.

The catch. Lighter in the hand than a traditional cut-crystal tumbler, which some drinkers miss.

Marquis is Waterford's lower-priced range, and Markham is one of its best-known patterns: a deep, geometric cut around a heavy tumbler. This double old fashioned holds 11 ounces and stands 3.75 inches tall, a good size for whiskey on a large cube or a stirred cocktail.

The listing gives the material as lead-free crystalline and the origin as Italy, not Ireland. That is the trade: you get the look of Waterford cut glass, from a Waterford-owned line, at a fraction of the price. It comes in a Marquis gift box.

Hand washing is recommended, which is typical for cut crystal. Skip it if everything in your house must go in the dishwasher.

The catch. Not Irish-made Waterford crystal, and not for the dishwasher.

Norlan was designed in 2015 by the company's co-founder Sruli Recht and refined with the Islay master distiller Jim McEwan. From outside it is a small tumbler. Inside, a second wall of borosilicate glass forms a narrowing nosing bowl, with raised ridges that set the spirit moving as you swirl, which Norlan says helps release ethanol before you smell the whisky.

It holds about 5.9 ounces to the rim, with a recommended pour of 0.7 to 1.4 ounces, and weighs about 4.4 ounces. Each glass comes boxed with a polishing cloth. The maker sells it one at a time, so buy two.

Norlan recommends hand washing and advises against ice, the freezer and the microwave. Skip it if you want a glass that can take rough handling or a cube.

The catch. Sold singly, hand wash only, and not for ice: a glass for neat pours and nothing else.

This is the standard Glencairn made the old-fashioned way. The listing describes it as mouth blown and hand cut, with wrap-around cuts on the bowl, and notes that small variations between glasses come from the hand work. The shape is unchanged, so it tastes exactly like the everyday Glencairn.

It arrives as a pair in a presentation box, which makes it one of the better whisky gifts at this price. The listing says it is dishwasher safe, though most owners of hand-cut glass wash it by hand.

Skip it for yourself if you already own plain Glencairns. You are paying for the cutting, not for a better tasting glass.

The catch. The listing mentions both 24% lead and lead-free crystal; if lead content matters to you, ask the seller before buying.