Whisky glasses ロックグラス

What is a kiriko whisky glass?

A whisky glass, also called an old fashioned glass, a rocks glass or a lowball, is a short, thick-based tumbler built for spirits taken neat or on the rocks. Wikipedia's entry on the shape lists rocks glass, whiskey glass and lowball as other names for the same object, and traces the form back to the quaich, a shallow two-handled Scottish drinking vessel, which was replaced through the nineteenth century by the plainer glass tumbler because it was cheaper to make and had wider appeal. The same entry says the true version of the shape is decorated in the cut glass style, with plain pressed glass as the modern, cheaper substitute, and that an ordinary pour runs 180 to 300ml, with a double old fashioned holding 350 to 470ml.

What we stock is a Japanese cut-glass take on that same tumbler. Kagami, one of the houses we carry, files its own whisky glasses on its own site under a Japanese name for the same object, rokku gurasu, rock glass, kept as its own category apart from sake cups, wine glasses and tumblers. Nearly everything on our shelf under that category is Edo Kiriko cut in Tokyo, with two Satsuma Kiriko pieces cut in Kagoshima.

Crystal or soda glass?

Edo Kiriko's own trade rules allow either material. Aoyama Square, the Tokyo crafts information body, states the raw material requirement plainly: it must be moulded glass, either crystal glass or soda glass. The choice matters in the hand. Crystal is glass with lead oxide standing in for some of the calcium in ordinary soda glass, and the lead raises the glass's refractive index, which is why a cut crystal facet throws more sparkle than the same cut in plain glass. It also raises the glass's density: soda glass runs at 2.4 grams per cubic centimetre or below, while typical lead crystal sits around 3.1. Those figures describe lead crystal specifically. Modern crystal glass can substitute barium, zinc or potassium oxide for the lead, so a listing that says only crystal does not by itself establish that the glass contains lead.

Nearly everything we stock is titled crystal. Kagami's own factory-tour page describes glass melted past 1000°C being formed into vases and wine-glass stems in the same building where the cutting wheels run, so their crystal is formed before anyone cuts it. Nabetani Glass Crafts names its material directly on its own site: KAGAMI crystal and crystal from Fukagawa Glass Works, including a transparent black colour called Aozumi that only KAGAMI produces. A handful of our listings, Hirota's lidded futachoko cups and a few pieces from Nemoto and Toa Glass, do not name a material on the live page, so check the individual listing rather than assume crystal by default.

What sizes and shapes do we stock?

There is no published millimetre or millilitre spec running across the range, so the sizing that shows up on the shelf is relative, glass to glass, in the words each listing uses. Yamada's Sazanami mini whisky glass is built as a smaller pour than the standard whisky glass cut in the same pattern, suited to a short measure or to sake. Kagami's Bamboo Leaves and Chrysanthemum Mesh rock glass is currently sold out; its listing describes it as larger than most of what we stock, built with a heavier pour in mind. Rinzen's Haku Ja glass holds a generous pour of its own, built for whisky rather than a short spirit. One Nemoto glass, the black harp cut, narrows from a wider top to a narrower base, an unusual shape for a whisky glass built to sit flat on a bar.

Hirota's futachoko is a different shape again: a lidded cut-glass cup with a shallow saucer-style lid, closer in build to our sake cup range than to a straight tumbler, and the same listing notes it doubles as a small dessert or savoury dish once the lid comes off. Kagami also sells a pair set rather than a single glass, one glass in pink and one in blue, cut with the same chrysanthemum-weave pattern; the listing ties the chrysanthemum to long life in Japanese custom, which is why a pair like it turns up as a wedding or housewarming piece.

How do you choose one?

Start with how much colour you want standing between you and the whisky. Toa Glass's cutter, Satoshi Nabetani, favours clear crystal carved well back. His Lotus cut reads as transparency more than pattern, and so does Haine, a wave motif whose own listing gives its name as sound of waves. Houses such as Haku and Nabetani Glass Crafts go the other way, leaving a wide skin of colour standing around each cut so the pattern reads bold before anything is poured into it.

Among what was in stock at last check, prices ran from $449 for Hirota's lidded futachoko up to $2388 for Nemoto's peacock cut; the catalogue does not establish a general price formula.

If you want a matched pair rather than a single glass, Kagami's chrysanthemum-weave set is the one on our shelf built as a pair from the start. And check the listing for stock before you order: 17 of the 64 whisky glasses we had on file at last check were showing as unavailable, spread across several of the nine vendors rather than concentrated in one.

Who cuts what we stock?

Eight named Japanese glass houses cut the Edo Kiriko glasses we stock. Yamada Glass is the largest single source, 17 of our 64 listings. Nabetani Glass Crafts follows with 16, Nemoto Glass with 9 and Toa Glass with 6. Kagami, Rinzen, Hirota Glass and Haku each have 2 listed. The catalogue also includes two available Satsuma Kiriko whisky glasses, grouped under the generic Satsuma vendor label rather than a named maker; their listings do not name the workshop that cut them. Each maker page linked above covers who they are and their wider range; this page sticks to the glass itself.

How does this connect to technique, sake ware and care?

Our Edo Kiriko page covers how the cut itself is made, the six wheel stages behind every crisp line on a Tokyo-cut glass. Our Satsuma Kiriko page covers the thicker colour skin and the bokashi fade behind our two Kagoshima pieces. If you are weighing a whisky glass against a smaller drinking cup, our sake cup guide covers ochoko, guinomi and the rest of that family. Our cut-glass care guide covers washing and storing whichever one you pick, hand-wash only and never the dishwasher, for crystal or soda glass alike.

Quick answers

These are the questions people ask us most often about whisky glasses, answered briefly.

Is a rock glass the same thing as an old fashioned glass? Yes. Wikipedia's own entry lists rocks glass, whiskey glass and lowball as other names for the same short tumbler shape, and Kagami's own site files its whisky glasses under the Japanese name for the same object, rock glass.

Is a kiriko whisky glass crystal or ordinary glass? It depends on the piece. Edo Kiriko's own trade rules allow either crystal glass or soda glass, and while most of what we stock is titled crystal, a handful of listings do not state a material, so check the individual page.

What sizes do you stock? No published millimetre or millilitre spec runs across the range. Sizes vary across the available range: Yamada's Sazanami mini glass is described as a smaller pour, while Hirota's futachoko is a lidded cup closer to a sake vessel in shape.

Do you stock Satsuma Kiriko as well as Edo Kiriko whisky glasses? Yes. Eight named Japanese glass houses cut the Edo Kiriko glasses we stock, and the catalogue also includes two available Satsuma Kiriko whisky glasses whose listings do not name the workshop that cut them.

Can I buy a matched pair? Yes. Kagami sells a chrysanthemum-weave pair set, one glass in pink and one in blue, built as a matched pair rather than sold singly.