Serious whisky collector (and drinker) here...

You don't need a fancy glass. Your sense of smell makes a huge difference when it comes to food and drink, as anybody with a nasty cold can tell you. You want something that keeps it from diffusing into the air so anything with a wide mouth makes it harder to appreciate.

So: a cognac snifter; sherry glass; a glencairn, which was ""made for whisky""; etc.

But of course it's down to taste.

If the aroma is too heady? Blow air into glass and then inhale the aroma. The burn is gone (important if you're drinking 62% rocket fuel single cask whisky) and you get a more dilute smell.

No need for all this pretension; this glass is that.

You don't, but sometimes the pretension is just part of the fun.

Entire fashion business is just emotions for example. Dont underestimate that part of humans

> No need for all this pretension

> a cognac snifter ... a glencairn

I think it's all relative.