Norlan Debuts Whisky Tumbler for Drinkers Who Add Ice

Whisky product innovator Norlan is launching its newest product: the Rauk Heavy Tumbler. The international brand is dedicated to advancing the whisky drinking experience through products informed by design, science, and ritual. While the company’s original whisky glass was developed through fluid dynamics to reduce ethanol and enhance aroma delivery for purists who drink neat, the new tumbler was designed with two users in mind: those who prefer their whisky chilled with ice, and the adventurous crafted cocktail maker.

Taking its name from the Old Scottish word for “Rock,” the new Rauk Heavy Tumbler was developed by Icelandic designer and Norlan co-founder Sruli Recht. For whisky drinkers who prefer their spirit chilled in a heavy-bottom glass, the tumbler, weighing in at 575 grams, will delight. And for those who revel in the crafted cocktail, the tumbler features a core innovation. Inside the glass lies an array of extruded chevrons radiating from the center, which serve to provide friction points for gripping ingredients used in muddled drinks.

Circumventing the ornamentation of traditional cut crystal, the entire surface of the tumbler, inside and out, is born in a single blinding moment of machine-pressing the molten crystal into a complex five-part mold. Within this process, the plunger forms the multi-chevron cross-shaped extrusion inside the glass. The chevrons of this specific pattern evolved through dozens of design iterations in search of an elegant and ideal form to aid in the art of cocktail making while visually reinforcing the compass shape on the underside of the glass.

Glassmaking is a form of both alchemy and art, a process often at odds with the precise digital modeling at the disposal of today’s designer. While the tumbler’s base is precision-modeled as a three-dimensional form allowing the glass to rest on four crystal points as though it were floating, perfecting this in mass production is a more nuanced process.

Combining the thickness of the glass bottom with this particular base, along with the desired thinness of the rim, required numerous rounds of sampling and even in production necessitates a delicate balancing act of timing and intuition during the machine-pressing process to keep the tumbler from either cracking or sinking on its feet. “Creating not just another rocks glass is about the perversion of form,” says Recht. “We wanted to craft an object that excited not just the user, but us as well.”

The Rauk Heavy Tumbler is sold individually and retails for $50.