For connoisseurs of fine spirits, the experience of consuming a preferred blend doesn’t just begin and end with the mere act of guzzling the liquid. A true fan is touched and affected by the ambiance that his barkeep spins around every round, every shot and every cocktail being served and knowing the history of the drink is just as intoxicating as the drink itself. Drawing from the rich and delicate culture of fine whiskey drinking, industrial designer Oren Kfir has created this stunning series of low balls that let drinkers visualize the aging process that has been employed to create the world’s finest whiskeys. Named “Blended”, the low ball glasses are designed to hold 4-6 oz (120-180 ml)-sized drink.
Blending is a crucial step in the blended whiskey manufacturing process with a 600 year old history, and lying right between the aging and bottling steps, often marks the difference between a great tasting whiskey and one that tastes good. To create the perfect blend, manufacturers rely on time-tested recipes and follow the process to the tee maintaining a highly accurate system to blend whiskeys of differing maturities. Though the Blended Whiskey Lowball Glasses do not pretend to contribute much to the blends being served them, they do pay a fitting tribute to the meticulous manufacturing process that allows great blends to retain the most appeal aromas and tastes of the drinks.
The Blended Low Balls feature both Oak wood & glass and Copper & glass variants since both copper and oak are crucial to the manufacturing of whiskeys. The physical process of separation of the waters and the spirits and further distillation is facilitated by Copper stills while the color, taste and aroma of the whiskey are determined by the Oak wood barrels that the spirit is aged in.
Since the traditional whiskey low ball glasses are heavy-bottomed, it was a bit of a challenge for the designer to ensure that the Oakwood glasses were equipped with bottoms that were weighted enough to maintain some semblance to the traditional serving glass while highlighting its use of wood at the same time. The Copper & glass version of the low ball glasses, however, were easier to manufacture though the designer created a special and innovative manufacturing process using an industrial mold to fabricate the copper bottom and blowing the glass onto it to allow the metal and the glass to fuse and merge into a solid and sturdy whole.
Via: Oren Kfir