Järvenpää|HS Järvenpää
In the whiskey glass designed by Jari Tuominen, the grooves on the edges evaporate the pungent smell of alcohol and bring out the aromas of the whiskey. Two universities as well as doctors and brain researchers have been involved in the development work.
Finnish a summer evening is full of scents: sauna, smoke and freshly made birch. And it can happen that the aromas can lead to an aha experience when there is a splash of whiskey in the glass and the taster is an expert in smells.
Järvenpääläinen Jari Tuominen is exactly like that. The Doctor of Chemistry spent his working career at the Technology Research Center VTT as an analyst of various odors and fragrances.
In the sauna evening, Tuominen noticed that the scents surrounding him were very much the same as those that rose to his nose from a whiskey glass. However, there was one problem.
“The smell of ethanol hit the nose and buried the fine aromas of the whisky,” Tuominen recalls.
From observation more than five years have now passed.
Tuominen is 65 years old, but by no means retired. A chemist has developed a SAVU whiskey glass that removes the strong smell of alcohol.
In Finland, 5,000 glasses have been sold during the year, and now the target is markets abroad.
Importing doesn’t consider himself a whiskey expert, although he says he’s learned “one thing and another” along the way.
He used to taste wines with his friends, and through that he also got to know whiskey enthusiasts.
“They asked me to give a presentation on smells and scents. Wine and whiskey enthusiasts have in common that they seek the best aroma experience, and for that the sense of smell is essential,” says Tuominen.
However, the strong smell of alcohol, especially in whiskies, might drive away a beginner. Tuominen tells about an American study, which revealed that 98 percent of women and more than 80 percent of men consider ethanol to be an unpleasant smell.
Since whiskey enthusiasts drink their whiskey from a glass, the starting point was clear: Tuominen had to design a glass where the pungent smell of alcohol would not hinder enjoyment.
And when the idea started to clear, Tuominen drew the first sketch of the glass on the first thing that happened to be in his hand – an envelope.
Jari Tuominen has spent his working career as an odor analyzer at VTT.
A whiskey glass the starting point of the development was purely scientific, and the solution to the problem was sought in chemistry, physics and human physiology. Tuominen also got other experts involved.
“The glass has been developed by the laboratories of the universities of Helsinki and Turku, as well as doctors and brain researchers.”
However, someone had to be found somewhere who knew how to make the glass himself.
Tuominen approached master glassblower Kari Alakoski with his plan, who became interested in the idea of making a “perfect” whiskey glass.
After several attempts, Alakoski was able to blow the first model piece of glass, which was 16 centimeters high and weighed half a kilo.
With it, Tuominen noticed that the odors of alcohol coming up into the nose had decreased considerably. So the planned technical solutions work.
After the first prototype, nine more had to be made before the final version was completed. Each glass is made by hand.
SMOKE glass the main idea is the shelf-like grooves on its edge.
“In professional terms, they are distillation levels. When the whiskey stays in them, the ethanol evaporates and other aromas slowly emerge. After a couple of minutes the aromas are fruity, a minute later they are completely different.”
Tuominen has been particularly pleased with the feedback he has received from people who hate whiskey. When he once offered a drink to a Lions Club Lady, the reception was not happy.
“Whiskey, we haven’t had that kind of drink, the ladies announced. But after the whiskey had been in the glass for a couple of minutes, the ladies wondered what perfume I had poured on them.”
Importing founded his own company for production and marketing, Noble Glass, of which he is also the CEO. The glass was named SAME.
The first whiskey glasses went on sale in Finland a couple of years ago.
Now Noble Glass is aiming for the German, North American and Japanese markets. There is still enough work for Tuomi for years to come.
“This was supposed to be just a hobby, but it’s gotten out of hand now. But this is just so nice.”
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