These New Tasting Glasses from Peugeot Really Work

By David Zivan

April 28, 2021

I was interested to learn of the company’s Saveurs division, an attempt to expand its culinary expertise into the wine and spirits space. There are corkscrews, both electric and hand-powered; handsome decanters and glasses; and something called a Clef du Vin, a patented tool that looks like a very small crowbar and which one dips into a glass of wine, they say, to determine its age-ability.

Among other tips the company offers, the pour should not extend above the center dimple.

And also these handsome and useful snifter things, which I quite enjoyed. Each package arrives with the vessel—something of a hybrid between a stemless wineglass and a brandy snifter, with a raised dimple in the middle—a metal cradle, and a leather coaster, called an “Untersetzer” in the brochure’s multilingual German section. The mouth blown glass will “enable…  enthusiasts to enjoy the fragrances in spirits, without the ‘fire’ feeling of the alcohol.”

I tested this a few times and found it to be true. In the interest of science, I tried the glass first with Makers Mark, basically my house hooch, by pouring equal measures into the Impitoyables and a plain rocks glass. In the new equipment, the aromas of the bourbon were indeed heightened without being heated up. More noticeable was a kind of unpeeling on the palate; tasted from the Peugeot, secondary notes emerged from the bourbon more forcefully. A pleasing caramel flavor, like a chewy candy your grandmother used to have around the house, jumps out of the texture, identifiable but not at all cloying. It’s there in the rocks glass, too, but subsumed. Though the difference is slight, overall, it moves the experience in a good direction.

It was clear to me that the product’s best use would be with more aromatic spirits, cognac or armagnac especially. I had a so-so scotch sitting around, and it brought the flavor up to better than average. As soon as I get my hands on something excellent, I know what glass I’ll reach for.