Beyond the Glencairn, does glassware actually matter in spirits?

That is exactly what Denver & Liely claims to have done. 

The logic of CEO and co-founder Denver Cramer is simple. As is true for design in any category, drinks-related or otherwise, product quality and function is accumulated over time by ongoing testing and development. 

“I always have the analogy that the Glencairn is basically the Toyota Corolla of whisky glasses. It's very reliable, it's at the right price, it will get you from a-to-b fine. That's why it's become ubiquitous. I think they make over five million a year,” Denver Cramer tells Whisky Magazine Australia.

Although the Glencairn was first produced at the start of the 21st century, its design can be traced back to 1981. It is therefore extremely impressive that the shape remains almost unrivalled more than four decades later. 

There isn't anything wrong with the iconic design, but even small improvements can be significant if drinking premium whisky is something you are passionate about.

Denver Cramer and Liely Faulkner weren’t planning on starting a competing business when they first dabbled in glassware, creating a run of 100 glasses purely for Christmas presents for family and friends. However, despite not having a commercial vision, the two mates and experienced designers took the project seriously, working closely with industry contacts including David Vitale of Starward and Sam Simmons, and later David Stewart, of The Balvenie. 

“We did that and then it came out and then it turned out it was the most accurate taste and smell profile whisky glass in the world,” said Denver.

“It wasn't for any sort of commercial benefit and they thought it was a fun thing to do as well, because they hadn't been asked in so long. I saw there was a huge gap pending that the Glencairn wasn't up to date, that the distillers can control everything that goes into the bottle, but they can't control that last step, which is massively important.” 

And thus Denver & Liely was born. 

The D&L Whisky Glass was made specifically for single malt whisky

What’s different and why?

As you can see above, the D&L Whisky Glass is visibly different to the Glencairn. In many ways it is a blend of a classic rocks glass and a tulip-shaped snifter. It is much wider at its base and does not have a tulip shape, tapering gradually instead. 

According to Denver, this means it foregoes the main issue he identifies with the alternatives. 

“If you have this round [tulip] shape [of other glasses], you have circular airflow, and then you hold a layer of volatiles. And they've got a slight bend in it, which clears a little bit of it, but not really much. I found, from our research anyway, it was basically a single note – you only get one aspect of the whisky through that opening.” 

He claims that the wider base and the convex shape helps to “blow off all those volatiles”, essentially "leaving what the distiller intended."

He also comments that the wider rim of the glass allows for different aromas to display depending where you position your nose. 

“There’s no comparison; most distillers know that, but ours is a lot more expensive at $55. You get three [Glencairns] for one of ours, but you get more than three times the performance,” Denver Cramer said. 

Different glasses for different spirits

Denver and Liely subverts the traditional glassware theory by having a single wine glass but multiple spirits glasses for different categories. This includes specific glasses for bourbon, agave and whisky. 

I asked Denver to compare the bourbon and whisky glasses.

“The bourbon base ingredient is corn, it's completely different, and then also drunk in a completely different cultural environment,” he said. “We always go to the country of origin and see what the music is like, what the food is like, how it's like part of that culture, because these [alcohol categories] don't sit individually, they sit in a fabric of culture. [The glasses] have to work within that whole.” 

The D&L Bourbon Glass

For the D&L Bourbon Glass, the goal was to create a glass that reinforced four key notes and structural characteristics, whereas the Whisky Glass, which was made for single malt Scotch, was centred around 12 individual components. 

Or as he puts it, Scotch drinkers “are looking for more of a scalpel rather than sort of a round, bolder, simpler profile for the bourbon.” 

He continues: “They've still got convex sides, but to a much lesser extent in the bourbon glass. And you've also isolated hand heat a little bit more with the base. And then you want your nose to be closer to the spirit surface; whereas with the whisky glass, you've got a much bigger aromatic area because they're looking for a lot more detail.” 

The eye of the beholder

One thing Denver Cramer is adamant about is that his glasses were never intended to be fashionable. 

“I don't care what stuff looks like. I care about durability and longevity. I've never designed our glasses to be beautiful. That's just how people perceive them," he said.

"We make Formula One cars. We make tools that go into Bunnings, essentially, according to me. That's what I care about. We make stuff that's meant to be used and high performance. If you find beauty in that, like you could in a Formula One car, then so be it." 

And, although Denver is careful to keep key details of the patents breached off the record as per his lawyers advice, Denver & Liely’s glasses have been copied illegally 20 to 30 times since first launched in late 2014… which is of course the most resounding proof of concept. 

"We're trying to do something way more than what a glass company would traditionally do because, again, we didn't start with commercial, we started with love, so it's a different sort of philosophy right from the start,” Denver Cramer said.

So... are they necessary?

To the average whisky fan, probably not.

But that's beside the point. If we are spending so much money on the liquid itself, and expecting distillers all around to continue to get better and outperform each other year after year, than we should also celebrate someone doing the same in the world of glassware.

Not every option is for every person, but we at Whisky Magazine Australia are stoked to be able too write about Australia stepping it up against the global powerhouses of whisky yet again.

You can read more about Denver & Liely here.