8 Creative Ways People Have Repurposed their Whiskey and Bourbon Barrels!

Have you ever made crafts out of scrap wood?  If the answer is yes, you will know how fun and fulfilling it can be to create your favorite interior décor piece or accessory with the blisters on your hand and the sweat on your brow.  If you have never made crafts out of scrap wood, then you have an opportunity to gain an incredibly fun and productive lifelong hobby!

Either way, crafts aren’t just for scrap wood anymore.  More and more, people are repurposing used bourbon barrels and used whiskey barrels to create some of the most gorgeously rustic interior décor imaginable.  Though oak barrels are typically used to store and ferment wine, whiskey, and beer when they are finished with that part of their lifecycle they can have a rebirth.  People have been repurposing their used bourbon barrels and whiskey barrels into exciting and beautiful décor!  Some of the world’s most elite brands have even teamed up with whiskey and bourbon distilleries to utilize the used barrels to make exciting new projects.  Let’s check out some of the best repurposing projects we’ve seen.

1. F-50 Guitar by Bushmills x Lowden

Bushmills Irish Whiskey and Lowden Guitars collaborated in June 2017 to develop a limited-edition guitar built from used whiskey barrels. Bushmills Irish Whiskey barrel wood was used for the 12^th fret and back inlays, the bindings, rosette, and head facings.  Ancient bog oak was used for the back and sides of the guitar; and sinker redwood used for the soundboard was personally chosen by George Lowden, the founder of Lowden Guitars.

Maybe not for your weekend craftsman, the guitar took more than 40 hours to design and construct.  It has a cross symbol made of a cooper’s hammer and luthier’s chisel, as well as two lines meant to represent the staves of a barrel.

2. Sunglasses from Glenmorangie and Finlay & Co.

Glenmorangie Whiskey and Finlay & Co., a British eyewear firm, collaborated in March 2016 to develop the “world’s first” whiskey sunglasses made from used whiskey barrels.

Finlay & Co. handcrafted each pair of sunglasses from whiskey barrels using a 16-step process, fitting with Glenmorangie’s 16 Men of Tain – Scottish Highland whiskey producers who have passed down their perfected secrets of whiskey-making from generation to generation.

In honor of the Scotch whiskey brand’s “pioneering approach” to cask and wood management, each pair of sunglasses featured the grain and natural finish of the barrel.

3. The Barrel Tree of Jack Daniel’s

Every year, in the town of Lynchburg, Tennessee, the whiskey company Jack Daniel’s erects a 26-foot tall Christmas Tree made entirely out of used whiskey barrels.  The stunning sight, which takes about a week to construct, is made up of 140 bourbon barrels and whiskey barrels, and the tree is lit as part of Lynchburg’s annual day-long “Christmas in Lynchburg” celebration.

4. Bremont’s Chivas 12 Made for Gentlemen

Pernod Richard and luxury British watchmaker Bremont teamed up in 2014 to produce a watch built from used whiskey barrels as part of the brand’s “Made for Gentlemen” marketing campaign.  An etched copperplate from a retired Scotch whiskey copper still sits on the watch’s leather gift pouch.

The dial was additionally stamped with the Chivas emblem and the signatures of John and James Chivas.  The timepieces were auctioned off to raise money for charities across the world.

Thinking of some fun ways you could repurpose a used whiskey barrel? Reach out to Rocky Mountain Barrel Company for exciting offers and discounts on used barrels for sale!

5. Salvaged Skateboards

Salvaged Skateboards’ creative workforce specializes in constructing skateboards out of repurposed wood, including wood from used whiskey barrels that have already been reused as a craft brew barrel by the Allagash Brewery in Maine.  The quality wood utilized in these boards highlights the vivid colors and graphics present in many modern designs.

6. Collection of Tequila Herradura Barrel Art

As part of its yearly Barrel Art Collection program, Tequila Herradura invites US-based artists to repurpose whiskey barrels into art pieces.  All artists are given an empty whiskey or oak barrel to use as a “canvas for their creativity.”  Art critics, enthusiasts, collectors, and “fans of Tequila Herradura who have an interest or affection for art” judge each regional competition.

The works of the artists are judged on the basis of originality, creativity, general quality, and incorporation of Tequila Herradura-related aspects and values.

7. RAW Eyewear x Bacardi

As part of its Good Spirited sustainability initiative, Bermuda-based beverage company Bacardi produced a line of sunglasses constructed from repurposed used bourbon barrels in 2016.  The sunglasses were designed in partnership with RAW Eyewear of Puerto Rico and included Italian polarized lenses and the famous Bacardi bat logo on the temple.

To make the wooden-framed, flat front sunglasses, the manufacturer assembled, sanded, and finished the wood, usually chopped for mulch or repurposed for ornamental purposes.

8. Flooring

Thanks to the upcycling boom in recent years, scaffolding batons, leather belts, and even pence have been used as flooring replacements.  However, we don’t believe any material is more stunning for flooring than reclaimed whiskey barrel floors.

McKay Flooring, a Scottish firm, devised a sustainable, economical, and environmentally friendly method of repurposing used whiskey barrels and used bourbon barrels, taking care to preserve the stains, scuffs, and labels to ensure that each floor is unique and imbues the room with the spirit of whiskey.

Let Us Help You!

In this blog, we’ve described some of the best ways we’ve seen used bourbon barrels and used whiskey barrels repurposed all over the world!  As you can see, high-end companies understand the value that a used barrel has, that it is perhaps only reaching the best part of its lifecycle.  We hope that this blog has inspired some ideas for you to get started repurposing your own barrels and make your very own accessories out of these beautiful oak pieces!

At Rocky Mountain Barrel Company, we believe that barrels are for so much more than simply aging spirits.  Wine barrels can be used for various purposes in your house and business!  Contact Rocky Mountain Barrel Company today to learn more about buying used whiskey and bourbon barrels for yourself!