Three years of development, more than forty prototypes and independent sensory testing have produced the mouth-blown Josephine N° 11 Whisky and N° 12 Tumbler, available today.
NEW YORK, November 13, 2026 – Josephinenhütte today introduces its first whisky glasses, the Josephine N° 11 Whisky and the Josephine N° 12 Tumbler. The two mouth-blown glasses address a problem familiar to every serious whisky drinker. In most glasses, the alcohol reaches the nose first and loudest, masking the fruit, wood and smoke that distiller and cask spent years developing.
Whisky is bottled at a minimum of 40 percent alcohol and often exceeds 60 percent, three to five times the strength of wine. Most whisky glasses concentrate aromas and direct them upward, which concentrates the ethanol as well. Josephinenhütte set out to create a glass that tempers the alcohol without muting the spirit.
Three years, Forty Prototypes, One Question
Development began in 2023 with tasting rather than drawing. Kurt Josef Zalto and his team assembled a fixed set of whiskies spanning regions, styles and strengths, then tasted them side by side in glasses from around the world. More than forty prototypes and some 200 whiskies, tasted both blind and open, came before the final design.
To move beyond personal impression, Josephinenhütte partnered with Agroscope, the Swiss research institute, to test its prototypes against the leading whisky tasting glass. A trained sensory panel perceived less alcohol and greater complexity in the Josephine glass. Laboratory analysis of the air above the whisky measured substantially lower ethanol levels.
Tested by the Industry’s Leading Palates
Four prototypes were then taken on the road. Over twelve days in the United States, in Washington, Nashville, Kentucky and New York, sixteen tastings brought the glasses before master distillers, blenders, collectors and auction specialists. Six further days of tastings followed in Scotland and London.
In Louisville, Bill Binder, owner of Binder’s Stach, tasted from the N° 11. “Tasting from this glass is crazy,” he said. “It’s a completely different experience. You get the full spectrum of the whisky’s aromas, from the brightest top notes to its deepest, richest tones.”
In New York, Sotheby’s whisky specialist Zev Glesta discovered nuances he had never before detected. “I’ve tasted extraordinary whiskies for years,” he said. “This glass made me realize that using a standard tasting glass was like working with a blunt knife. Suddenly, every nuance came into focus.”
No. 11 Whisky, No. 12 Tumbler
The Josephine N° 11 Whisky, for Tasting
The N° 11 is designed to reveal a whisky layer by layer. A wide base gives the spirit room to breathe, allowing the volatile alcohol to disperse rather than rise in a single sharp column. A gently waisted bowl gathers notes of fruit, wood and spice and releases them in sequence. A flared rim invites deep nosing without the burn, then carries the whisky across the palate for a rounder, longer finish. Its long stem matches the height of the Josephine wine glasses, a deliberate statement that great whisky deserves the same regard as great wine.
The Josephine N° 12 Tumbler, for Sipping
The N° 12 reinterprets the classic tumbler around the geometry of the N° 11. It is made for the unhurried moment at the end of the day, when company and conversation matter as much as the pour. The stem is omitted by design, so the glass rests in the full hand. Lighter than a traditional tumbler and finished with an exceptionally thin rim, it lets the drinker feel the whisky rather than the glass.
“Great whisky, like great wine, needs the right glass,” said designer Kurt Josef Zalto. “Nobody serves Champagne and an old Barolo in the same glass. The glass should follow the whisky, too.”
The Josephine N° 11 Whisky and Josephine N° 12 Tumbler are available now at josephinen.com, priced at $99 and $89, respectively. They join the Josephine Collection, which includes glasses conceived for wine, Champagne, eau de vie and water.
For interviews, images and samples, please contact Claire Petersen at claire@quinto.com.
Kurt Josef Zalto, Designer and Creative Director at Josephinenhütte
About Josephinenhütte
Josephinenhütte is a luxury glassware house dedicated to handcrafted, mouth-blown glasses made in Europe. Founded in 2019, it takes its name from a historic Silesian glassworks established in 1842. Guided by a philosophy called The Shape of Taste, every Josephine glass is designed so that its form serves what is poured into it. The Josephine Collection spans glasses for wine, Champagne, eau de vie, water and now whisky, created under the design direction of Kurt Josef Zalto. Learn more at josephinen.com.
About Kurt Josef Zalto
Kurt Josef Zalto is a sixth-generation glassmaker whose family’s craft traces back to 18th-century Venice. He grew up in Brand-Nagelberg, a glassmaking village in Austria’s Waldviertel, and trained as a glassmaker in Kramsach, Tyrol, mastering the craft by hand before turning to design. He founded a glassmaking company under his own name, which he led as designer and managing director until its sale in 2009. Since 2019 he has been a founding partner and chief designer of Josephinenhütte, where he created the Josephine Collection. For more than thirty years, his work has explored how the shape of a glass changes the way we smell and taste.