ABOUT OUR WHISKY BARRELS
The lifetime of a barrel
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New Barrels
New barrels are made from oak and used to mature a wide variety of spirits, wine and beer. This can range from bourbon to scotch and sherry to port. Their appearance is strikingly different from that of an old barrel, the bands are shiny and the oak light in colour.
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No longer required
Once the barrels have been used to mature one type of spirit they are often repurposed into the whisky industry for a second fill, third and sometimes fourth fill, dependant upon distillery. This is what gives whisky its different flavour profiles and unique colour variations.
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New lease of life
When barrels become damaged or can no longer be filled again they are often sold off for other uses. This can be for anything from decorative pieces to garden planters. This is where Acorn Upcycling hand selects and purchases barrels for our range of products to give them a new lease of life.
BARREL VARIATIONS
Barrel sizes originated from the tun barrel which holds one thousand litres of liquid. Smaller barrels were then named accordingly as measures of this size, such as a half tun or quarter tun.
Unfortunately, due to their large volume tun barrels are no longer used within the whisky industry and more modern names have been given to smaller sized barrels, with the more popular ones illustrated here.
The whisky barrels we use have often been used to age another liquid beforehand which also determines the size of barrels we get. The larger barrels originate from the sherry, port, and madeira trade and slightly smaller ones from the bourbon trade. The smallest barrels are slightly rarer and usually come from the sherry or beer industry before being repurposed for ageing whisky.
WELSH WHISKY DISTILLERY
As of 2025, we are delighted to source our barrels from the Welsh Whisky Distillery, Penderyn. With their flagship distillery and warehouse based in the Brecon Beacons, it is fantastic to be able to support the Welsh whisky industry. Penderyn now have several distilleries, all of which make a great day out if you ever get the chance to visit.
This adds a unique story to our product line as we proudly make our products in Wales, from barrels that have been used to mature Welsh Whisky. Having started off using barrels from the Scotch and Irish Whisky industry we are pleased to now be able to offer our customers products with a Welsh heritage.
Barrel wood finishes
All of our products are created with a variety of finishes and with our items you can choose which finish you would like. The rustic finish remains untampered, the denim finish is semi sanded which gives a denim blue like look to the wood, and the planed finish exposes the original light oak colour.
If you are interested in a commission piece then you can specify which finish you would like on your item. Feel free to get in touch if you have any more questions regarding our finishes.
