What are the Legs of a Whisky and What do They Mean?

Thursday, 11 September 2025 at 17:01

When you pour a whisky and swirl it in your glass, you sometimes see a nice edge form with drops slowly falling back into your glass. What do these 'legs of the whisky' tell you about your dram? Find out in this article.

In this article:

What are the legs or tears of a whisky?
The legs or tears of your whisky are the thick, oily drops that slide down the side of your glass.

What can you discern from them?
From these, you can tell whether you're dealing with a creamy, oily whisky and whether or not the alcohol content is high.

Why isn't this always the case?
External influences mean that this isn't always the case. Then you have to rely on your other senses (or the information on the bottle).

What exactly are the legs of whisky?

When you hear someone talk about tasting whisky, the term 'legs' or 'tears' sometimes comes up. In reality, this is nothing more than whisky that has stuck to the side of your glass and is trickling slowly downwards.

The drops form when you swirl your whisky in the glass and an edge forms. This happens because the surface tension of the alcohol and the water in your whisky differ, leaving a thin layer on your glass.

Thanks to gravity, the drink from this layer slowly flows back into your glass. Sometimes the 'legs' are thin, quick, and close together, and other times they're thicker, slow and oily and sit further apart.

This is not only pleasing to the eye, but reveals something about the whisky too.

What can you learn from the legs of whisky?

The thicker and slower the tears that roll back into your glass, the higher the whisky's alcohol content. These are a good indication of the whisky's viscosity, or the combination of alcohol content, oils, fats, and esters in your dram.

All of these factors contribute not only to flavor, but also to the creaminess of your whisky. You'll notice this when you take your first sip and the whisky forms a sort of creamy layer on your tongue and palate.

Why isn't this always the case?

Does this then mean that a whisky with quick, thin legs is low in alcohol and doesn't provide a creamy mouth-feel? The short answer is no.

The legs of a whisky are merely an indication. Many factors contribute to the formation of these drops. The following things come into play:

the temperature of your whisky
the temperature of your glass
the shape of your glass
how clean your glass is

A warm glass or a glass with warmer whisky in it will deliver a different type of tears than a cooler glass of whisky. This has to do with the evaporation of alcohol.

The best is a clean glass served at room temperature.

Discover the legs of your whisky yourself

If you want to go about discovering ‘the legs’ of your whisky yourself, all you have to do is swirl your dram in your glass. Follow our tips for tasting whisky the right way.