Nelson Mandela drank from one as part of his “Freedom of the City” award from Edinburgh in 1997, the Waterloo Tree quaich is said to have been made from the tree under which the Duke of Wellington gave his battle winning orders, and winners in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games received a quaich along with their medals.īut anywhere in Scotland that’s serious about its whisky isn’t using a wooden bowl to serve it. The quaich is still used as a symbolic gift in modern Scotland. That doesn’t mean it’s disappeared from Scottish culture though. The same way we might currently display beer steins or goblets, the quaich was became something ornamental, not something in general use. The ceremony of the quaich quickly overtook the practicality of it as a cup and set it on a path similar to that of many traditional drinking vessels. For them, it was a symbol of good faith and friendship to share a quaich of whiskey with someone.

People grew as loyal to the quaich as modern drinkers are to the current Glencairn glass, to the point where it was used exclusively for whiskey.Īs their symbolism grew, Scottish clan leaders used them to show off their own wealth and power, as well as a representation of their hospitality. Eventually, the symbolism around the bowls affected their usage. Lower classes stuck with their simple wooden bowls, while the wealthy and powerful commissioned quaiches made of rare or culturally significant wood, precious metals, or both. By the 1500s, the vessels were used to show off wealth and status as often as they were used to drink. The first quaiches were made of wood and built purely for function, but as they grew as symbols, they began to take on new meaning. If we agree on all that, we can get back to the drinkware.Īgreeing also allows us to speed up to the quaich in the 16th century. So let’s agree that whiskey is an old drink, the Irish and the Scottish have equal claim to it, and it’s delicious no matter what kind you prefer. But, as a knowledgeable Scotsman once told us, the Irish were making whiskey well before that. The first written record of whiskey comes from the Lindores Abbey in Scotland in 1494. Okay, we should be upfront about the fact that no one has a definite date on the invention of the drink. And since whiskey is a Gaelic word too, when a modern person drinks whiskey from a quaich, they’re drinking almost exactly the way someone would have when whiskey was first invented. Both countries still have native Gaelic speakers and the language itself hasn’t changed much since it came to the British Isles roughly 2,500 years ago. The quaich is a drinking bowl with handles on either side and the word comes from the Gaelic word for cup, “cuach.” Like the history of whiskey itself, it has roots in both Ireland and Scotland. This is the history of the Glencairn whiskey glass.įor most of mankind’s whiskey drinking history people drank from a quaich ( sounds like “quake”). It’s become the go-to glass for every whiskey tasting we’ve been to for as long as we’ve been drinking whiskey, and it’s such a weird glass, we can’t help but wonder what the bigger story behind the shape is. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t find the origins of the distinctive Glencairn whiskey glass intriguing. Broadly, we feel the same way about whiskey.

In fact, we spent a long time talking about how the best glass for beer is a glass with beer in it. There’s no wrong way to indulge in your favorite whiskey (unless it comes as some form of freaky handrub). We’re very much of the Ron Swanson mindset. Just because a special shaped glass exists for whiskey drinking doesn’t mean anyone who drinks out of something else is wrong.

Whiskey glass