Whiskey & Bourbon Rocks Glasses

Whiskey and bourbon undergo a long process from distillation to aging in casks made of oak. To fully enjoy bourbon you need to understand a little bit about the liquor you are tasting and have the proper rocks glass. These bar glasses for him come in many shapes and sizes and can include a variety of accessories. Glassware accessories include ice ball molds so you can create large glass ice balls that melt more slowly and dilute your bourbon less, allowing you to keep your whiskey cold yet undiluted. Bourbon glasses that we sell can also come with a cigar holder in the glass, intricate designs in the bottom such as our Fairbanks glasses which feature a rocks formation in the bottom, or we have hundreds of personalized bourbon glasses that come custom engraved for you.

What makes a good bourbon glass?

First, bourbon can be served in double old fashioned or lowball style rocks glass. The difference being how much liquid each glass holds. Old fashioned glasses hold more, making them better for cocktails and less ideal for serving bourbon and whiskey. Meanwhile, low-ball glasses hold the perfect amount for drinking bourbon or whisky on the rocks or neat. Therefore, the the best bourbon glasses are lowball sized glasses which typically hold between 6oz to 11oz. Lowball glasses also have an advantage of an easy to hold size with tall vertical walls, so they fit comfortably in your hand. These rocks glasses are the ideal drinking glasses for bourbon, scotch, and whiskey.

How much does a rocks glass hold?

Typically a rocks glass holds 6-11oz. This is so you can fill the glass with “rocks” aka ice or a whiskey ice ball. That's what a rocks glass is and where the name comes from. After filling with ice, typically you will combine your bourbon with a mixer such as soda or ginger ale, sit back in a comfortable chair in your home or at the bar, and enjoy the drink and conversation. Drinking bourbon is a leisurely and relaxing endeavor, so you wouldn't want a huge glass for drinking bourbon. This is because the air and warmth from your hand will heat the liquid melting the ice, and diluting your drink far too quickly. That is why the best rocks glasses are sized 6oz-11oz. In recent years we've even seen stainless double walled bourbon glasses, glasses with ice pockets in the bottom, and other cool glass sets in attempt to solve this problem for neat whiskey drinkers, but nothing quite matches classic rocks glasses personalized for you.

Ways to drink bourbon

In order to keep their drink undiluted and the aromas, flavors, and character of their bourbon at it's best, the purist may prefer to drink their bourbon “neat”. Drinking whiskey or bourbon neat means to tell the bartender to put your bourbon in a rocks glass with no mixer and no ice. The term “straight up” means no mixer; the bartender may ask if you want ice or not in your bourbon glass when using this term. Finally, on the rocks means you want you bourbon with ice, and is by far the most common way to drink whiskey.