I have been urging readers and tasting participants to get away from using snifters for their brandies and whiskies because, aside from the fact that they're bloody ugly, they do nothing to enhance the aroma of spirits. In fact, the shape of a fat snifter actually forces the smell of any spirit to dissipate too quickly, thereby robbing the drinker of one of the most important stages of enjoyment. A glass with a narrow, cylindrical bowl funnels the aroma straight up into the nasal cavity. Think narrow and cylindrical, not broad and open. Also in the same vein and against custom, do not warm your brandies and whiskies with your hands or, worse, over a candle flame.
Heat forces the aromatic properties to break up and vaporize too rapidly.
There must have been a think tank of imbeciles decades ago which existed to create these outlandish and totally wrong serving rituals, like warming spirits and serving them in balloon glasses. Give me strength. Perhaps these numbskulls imbibed too much to think clearly. Call me a creature of habit, but I likewise find the Spanish copita to be the glass of choice for all fortified wines, not just sherry. Since I put such highly valued stock on my ability to smell, this type of glass, which accentuates the aroma of any libation, suits me best.