Glencairn whisky glass

A Glencairn whisky glass

THE GLENCAIRN GLASS

The Glencairn Glass for whisky is produced by Glencairn Crystal, a family run crystal glassware company based in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, Scotland.

Millions of Glencairn Glasses are sold every year globally, making it the world’s favourite whisky glass. Its unique and stylish shape has been crafted to enhance the enjoyment of all whiskies and to get the most out of your dram.

Its tapering mouth captures those all-important aromas, and the wide crystal bowl enhances and allows the fullest appreciation of the whisky colour, with the solid base designed to be comfortably cradled in your hand.

The Glencairn Glass is most likely to be the glass of choice in whisky distilleries and at most major whisky festivals, as well as in many bars all around the world.

In 2006 the glass won the Queen's Award for innovation.

The Glencairn glass is not the only glass on the market that is designed specifically for drinking whisky. (For example, Riedel and Norlan Glass also manufacture such glassware.) While there are numerous styles of such glasses available, the Glencairn is the first style to be endorsed by the Scotch Whisky Association, and to be used by every whisky company in Scotland and Ireland.

Old fashioned tumblers, snifters, and nosing copitas are other types of glasses that are commonly used for drinking whisky. The traditional style of whisky glass is a cut glass crystal (also known as an "old fashioned glass", "rocks glass" or "lowball glass" in the United States), an iconic design that remains the most commonly used type of whisky glass. However, a tumbler does not hold and focus the aromas as much for the experience of the drinker as the other styles, which curve inwards towards the top of the glass. While not all drinkers may find the strong aroma produced by such glasses desirable, inward-curved glasses are often preferred by connoisseurs who consider the aroma especially important to the experience of a whiskey.

History

Glencairn Crystal was founded by Raymond Davidson in 1981 and the company is now run by his two sons Paul Davidson (Managing Director) and Scott Davidson (New Product Development Director) with a team of over 70 employees.

Before the year 2000, the whisky industry had no singular glass it could call its own, unlike champagne, brandy or wine.

The Glencairn Glass was created by Raymond Davidson at Glencairn Crystal and launched in 2001. It was the result of his vision to create a glass specifically for the whisky drinker and he envisaged a glass similar to a traditional sherry nosing glass (or Copita) that would encourage the user to fully appreciate the nose and palate of a whisky whilst being functional and robust enough for a bar environment. Raymond also wanted to ensure that the aesthetic of the glass was an attractive fit for the superb spirits it would carry.

Prior to this - Raymond’s initial prototype glass had been relegated to the filing cabinet for almost 20 years until his son Paul found it whilst looking through samples.

It was then brought to the attention of some of the most renowned Master Blenders of the Scotch Whisky Industry and with their guidance and expertise, the glass evolved. It’s size and shape was perfected to accommodate a 35ml pour whilst allowing for the addition of water; keeping an optimum amount of liquid in contact with air to allow the aromas to develop.

Products

The Glencairn Glass is available via the Glencairn Crystal online shop, along with a wide range of crystal glassware and giftware. Many items can also be personalised using the online 3D visualiser to add a name, date, message or design to glasses and decanters.

The Glencairn Glass range includes:

-Single classic crystal Glencairn Glass (uncut), from £5

-Single mouth blown, hand cut crystal Glencairn Glass, from £23

-Glencairn Glass Tasting Gift Set: four classic Glencairn Glasses, with caps which help contain the vapours from your whisky to give greater concentrations of aromas whilst nosing, as well as a pipette for those who like to add a controlled drop of water to their dram, £50.

- Glencairn Glass Blind Tasting Set: launched in 2020 and especially designed for blind whisky tastings, this set of colourful Glencairn Glasses hide the colour of the spirit allowing for a heightened sensory experience. It features the glass in 5 different colours; Black, Blue, Green, Gold and Red as well as the original classic clear Glencairn Glass, from £55

Glencairn Websites and Community Hubs

The Glencairn Glass has its own official website; www.whiskyglass.com, which includes detailed information all about the Glencairn Glass and the entire Glencairn range, as well as an online shop.

The website also includes ‘The Whisky Hub’ showcasing interviews with leading distilleries and ‘The PodGlass’ podcast series featuring interviews with Glencairn Crystal Founder, Raymond Davidson, and other renowned industry experts. A global whisky distillery map can also be found along with whisky events and festivals listings, as well as blog posts covering all things related to the Glencairn Glass and beyond.

Glencairn Glass official website: www.whiskyglass.com

Glencairn Crystal official website: www.glencairn.co.uk

GLENCAIRN CRYSTAL

Glencairn Crystal is a family run crystal glassware company based in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, Scotland.

Established in 1981, the company is regarded  internationally as one of the finest crystal decanter and glassware manufacturers and world experts in innovation, design, creation and supply of premium drinks packaging – from concept to delivery.

Glencairn Crystal was founded by Raymond Davidson and is now run by his sons Paul and Scott Davidson, with a team of over 70 employees. Some of the company’s longest serving craftspeople have over 40 years’ experience in working with crystal and developing pioneering glassware design techniques.

Products and Services for Glencairn Crystal

For over the last four decades Glencairn Crystal has been supplying the drinks industry and consumer markets with unique crystal decanters, glassware and giftware.

Over the years Glencairn Crystal has created bespoke crystal decanters to hold some of the world’s oldest and most sought-after whiskies and spirits.

Raymond Davidson created the famous Glencairn Glass for whisky and the company currently sells millions of these glasses globally every year making it the world’s favourite whisky glass.

The company also produce uniquely crafted and personalised awards and trophies.

Available via the Glencairn Crystal online shop, a wide range of crystal glassware and giftware is available. Many items can also be personalised using an online 3D visualiser to add a name, date, message or design to glasses and decanters.

Glencairn Crystal’s glassware and giftware includes; whisky decanters and decanter sets, crystal whisky glasses and whisky glass sets, engraved glasses, glass tumblers, gin glasses, wine glasses, champagne glasses and many other crystal glassware items for wine and spirits.

Company Offerings

Glencairn Crystal has an in-house creative team of designers and product development engineers. They have the capability to create everything in-house, from the graphics to the 3D modelling of a bottle, to the promotional brochure and online media.

The backbone of the business is based on success through innovations. The company has spent decades evolving a large and diverse range of luxury spirit containers from premium glass bottles to lead-free crystal bottles and decanters in all shapes and sizes to suit all market needs.

The company’s innovations are built on learnings from producing some of their most expensive decanter creations. Glencairn Crystal’s designers and craftspeople can now replicate these highly skilled decoration techniques on more affordable premium glass bottles which has taken almost 15 years to perfect.

Glencairn Crystal has created and supplied glassware for the majority of leading drinks companies such as Brown-Forman, Diageo and Pernod Ricard as well as sporting organisations including the world famous premier clubs; Liverpool, Celtic and Rangers. Other organisations they’ve worked with include Cunard, Muller, Facebook and Google, plus corporate clients including the Houses of Parliament and Scottish Parliament. Many of these companies have been customers for over 40 years.

Accolades

Glencairn Crystal has won various awards including three Queen’s Awards – one of the highest awards in British business – starting with the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2006 for the Glencairn Glass for whisky and then the Queens Award for Enterprise in 2012 and 2017.

In 2010 Raymond Davidson and Glencairn Crystal were named Industry Leader of the Year by the Malt Advocate Magazine in America (now known as Whisky Advocate Magazine).

Glencairn Crystal was also one of seven Scottish companies to join ELITE in 2019 (the London Stock Exchange Group's programme for fast-growing companies), and in 2023 it was one of the top 20 shortlisted Scottish companies recognised for exporting excellence to feature in the Scottish Export Index (formally the Scottish Export Awards).

Sustainability Strategy

in 2021 Glencairn Crystal undertook an extensive expansion and remodelling of its factory and offices at its headquarters in East Kilbride.

As part of the company’s strategy to increase its level of sustainability, re-use and reduce rather than just recycle, and future-proof every aspect of its production business, Glencairn Crystal invested £2million into its building infrastructure, factory processes and environmental programme, to ensure that as many aspects of the business as possible are sustainable and environmentally sound.

Glencairn’s investment includes the following:

• Installation of an extensive Solar PV and energy storage system:

• The energy generated by the system is over and above the required amount for the company to run off and be entirely independent on. Any excess electricity generated from the system is sent back to the grid and can be repurposed for other local usage.

• The installation of the Solar PV system has allowed the team to install an air conditioning system for the factory floor level for employees, thus removing the previous gas heating system.

• This has all resulted in a dramatic reduction in gas usage by 75% with the plan to remove gas energy altogether over the next ten years.
• Day-to-day office functions such as recycling and packaging have been carefully considered, with the ambition to re-use and reduce, rather than just recycle, removing the use of plastic packaging entirely in the near future.
• Bespoke packaging is in place for the company’s online customers - the packaging they receive is fully recyclable (including the tape for sealing the item).
• The addition of electric car charging points in the company car park has meant that all company cars are now either fully electric or hybrid.

External links

• Glencairn Glass U.S. Design Patent (Publication Date: 25 June 2002, Filing Date: 26 September 2001, Term: 14 years from the date of issue.)