If you’re a regular reader of this fine site, you’re familiar with Norlan by now. I first mentioned the brand when their massively successful whisky glass Kickstarter took off back in 2015. The Norlan whiskey glass combined design, science and ritual for the perfect whisky drinking experience.

The glasses were my go-to whiskey glasses until Norlan revealed the Rauk heavy tumbler late last year. The tumbler looks simply amazing, and at 575 grams (~1.26 lb) of glass and leaded crystal, the Rauk feels like you’re drinking whiskey from a solid rock.

Now Norlan has introduced a new member of the Norlan family of whisky glasses: The Vawe highball glass.

Vawe Highball

Every Norlan glass has been conceived to accommodate a particular way of enjoying whisky. The new highball was inspired by the Japanese custom of mixing whisky with ice and soda, or simply water - mizuwari as the practice is known.

Adding water to whiskey is a hot topic among whiskey lovers. One camp will consider it sacrilegious to change how the whiskey tastes, thus turning it into something different than the distiller intended. The other camp will claim that adding a water - often as little as a drop - will bring out more flavor and aromas from the whiskey, making it even better.

Even more sinful than adding water, is using whiskey in drinks and cocktails. Personally, I’m not a religious man, and instead I tend to sway towards the pragmatic ways of life. In my mind, you should enjoy your whiskey as you wish. Yes, the distiller did all the work, but you paid for it, after all. Also, I think whiskey sour is an amazing drink.

So of course I had to pre-order a Vawe highball glass! Like the Norlan heavy tumbler, it’s ridiculously expensive - in particular since I’ll have to pay import taxes and fees as well - but if it’s even half the glass the tumbler is, it’s worth it.