The first thing I’ll say is that everything below will be better with a tasty tipple in hand, but then what in life isn’t? Public intoxication and open container tickets obviously come to mind, but outside of illegal activities there isn’t much in life that can’t be made at least a smidgen better with a tasty beverage by your side. That also goes for everyday objects. From Sunglasses to outerwear there’s almost nothing that can’t be made better when it’s made with whiskey and its barrels.
Jackets
Back in 2014 Noble Denim joined forces with Bulleit to create jeans made from raw denim soaked in bourbon. They shot a gorgeous video about the project where they put the raw denim in ex-Bourbon barrels and then filled them back up with bourbon and let the barrels sit in the woods for a bit. They were a smash hit so they teamed up with Bulleit again, but this time they made jean jackets using the same process.
The jacket costs $285 and in every sense is a hand crafted American-made product. The folks at Noble make all of their products by hand in their shop using what I assume are all high quality products. I know nothing about fashion and clothing so I can only go by the passion I see in the video about their processes and so assume the best.
On a bonus note you should check out how Noble, this young denim-obsessed company, helped save an ailing denim-obsessed company. It’s an amazing story about people reaching across generations based on a shared passion to create something amazing. It’s a beautiful story and even managed to touch the heart of this boozy curmudgeon.
Noble Denim: Tennessee Partnership from Noble Denim on Vimeo.
Sunglasses
Products made from reclaimed wood seem to be all the rage these days which is great for two reasons. #1) Old wood has a beautiful and unique character that can’t be duplicated. #2) It reduces the need to chop down trees that could otherwise go towards making new whiskey barrels
But back to point #1, it just looks cool. These wood framed sunglasses from Shwood and Woodzee are seriously badass. Two toned and textured with the natural wood grain they’re functional and naturally stylish all thanks to the whiskey barrels they were made from.
Headphones
My passions in life go Whisk(e)y, Music, Art and then Books / Literature which is not to be confused with loves because then my dogs trump whiskey without question. But back to passions music fills my life, it surrounds me at every moment possible and combining that with whiskey puts a big stupid grin on my face. LSTN Sound Co. combined forces with Chivas to create a truly lovely set of headphones that carry an altruistic tune. A portion of every sale goes to the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
Flooring
The folks at River Drive make all kinds of amazing products out of old whiskey barrels, including an electric guitar, but by far my favorite is their flooring. Eventually I’ll move out of Los Angeles and once again be able to afford a house and when I do I will have a basement bar and that basement bar will be floored with whiskey barrels. Until then I’ll just have to settle for some of their whiskey barrel coasters to rest my glasses of whiskey in.
Lighting
This chandelier from Jason Cohen Wood Artisan is a thing of beauty and if my fantasy basement bar were to materialize these would be the primary light source. True a set of four would set me back a cool $8.4K, but I did say it was a fantasy bar. At $2.1K a pop they’re outside the price range of most of us, but I never said this list was affordable, I just said it was about making everyday objects better with whiskey and this checks that box.
Pet Beds
Since moving out of my house in Utah to a small apartment in Hollywood I no longer have the room for a dog bed of any size so my dogs sleep on the couch which they don’t seem to mind in the slightest. However, I do see that longing in their eyes for a space to call their own once again and I know they’d love a set of these. How do I know that? Because I raised my dogs right, that’s how.
Pipes
I’m not a smoker. I don’t care for the taste or smell of cigars and straight up abhor the taste and smell of cigarettes, but the handful of times I’ve indulged in some sweet pipe tobacco I’ve not hated it; borderline enjoyed it. It’s because of these experiences that I have this vision of me being and old man sitting on a whiskey barrel rocking chair, on my porch, with a dog by my side, an argyle blanket over my lap, a glass of whiskey in my right hand and a pipe in my left – enjoying a crisp fall day. It’s important to have dreams.
Chairs
If you read the above and wondered where I’d be getting my whiskey barrel rocking chair from the answer is the Hungarian Workshop located here in California. It’s a thing of beauty and has me jonesing for a porch to call my own.
Picture Frames
Life isn’t fully lived without people you care about playing a role, but I’ll be damned if they aren’t also the source of a lot of stress which coincidentally means they’re doing their job. If you didn’t care they wouldn’t have that power over you, but that’s why we have whiskey and why they deserve to be framed in the thing we use to cope with all those feelings.
Decanters
I admit this one is slightly cheating, but nothing makes a decanter – which can hold anything – better than when it’s holding whiskey. Or whisky, whichever you prefer. This set looks absolutely awesome and I won’t lie, every time I pour from it I start singing “he’s got the whole world in his hand” in my head. This is the perfect set to drink from while contemplating world domination.
Whisky
Make whisky better just by adding more whisky. Yeah this is straight up cheating and I know this isn’t technically an “everyday object”, but that’s also why it’s a bonus 11th on the list. Whisky Blender is a site that lets you create your own custom blends of whisky and after coming across this site recently I had to share it with y’all.
That’s it. That’s the end, but if you have your own favorite whiskey-made product you’d like to share feel free to add it in the comments. Cheers!
