Personally find that glassware is a lot less important than for wine. I mostly use my cheapo ikea tumblers because they fit nicely in my dishwasher. A Glencairn is probably the 'best' shape of glass though.
Re: water I pretty much agree exactly with Kevin in his new thread. Just a few drops can really bring out flavours/aromas, and a bit more for cask strength whiskies as my favourite net abv at drinking is probably about 43-46% so I try and bring them a bit closer to that level. Nothing too scientific though, just eyeball it.