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news
Renovo creates bikes out of old Glenmorangie whisky casks
Renovo Hardwood Bicycles has collaborated with a famous Highlands distillery to create the Glenmorangie Original Bicycle out of old whisky casks.
BikeBiz reports that the casks used to make the Glenmorangie Original whisky are only used twice. The single malt has therefore come up with the Beyond the Casks series to make use of the old ones
Last year British eyewear brand Finlay & Co created the world’s first Scotch whisky sunglasses from The Original’s casks. This year Renovo has built a bike.
“Renovo shares our uncompromising approach to craftsmanship and, like Glenmorangie, is known for its pioneering work with wood,” explained Dr Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling and Whisky Creation.
“So, we shipped a pallet of staves from second-fill casks which once contained The Original from our Highland Distillery to Renovo’s workshop in the US. Then, we began to imagine the possibilities…”
You’d think that shipping a load of wood to a firm that makes bikes out of wood would only have a fairly limited number of possibilities.
And so it proved.
“The American oak from which Glenmorangie makes its casks is a great wood,” said Renovo founder, Ken Wheeler. “Its engineering properties are ideal for bikes, as hard woods have a high stiffness.
“For us, the only aspect that was different was the shape of the staves, which have a curve to them, and the fact that they were a little damp, after spending years with whisky inside them… which, by the way, made them smell pretty good. Although, we have to admit to whisky fans, the scent has now diminished.”
Wheeler said the firm’s craftsmen eventually decided upon a design, “which would celebrate that curve in the downtube – the largest tube of the bicycle, which carries the most load.”
Each bike takes 20 hours and 15 staves to complete.
Rumsden concluded: “In these beautiful bicycles, we have created a lasting tribute to Glenmorangie Original’s casks to which our award-winning whisky owes so much. I’m delighted that through our pioneering collaboration with Renovo, founded on a shared passion for innovation and expertise in wood – we ensure that these wonderful casks live on and on.”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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14 comments
Has anyone ever completed End to end on a wooden bike?
So these barrels are made in America shipped to Scotland then shipped back to be turned into bikes? Seems inefficient.
Who said the barrels were made in USA?
@Alessandro
Actually NickT is entirely correct and you've failed to appreciate that Glenmorangie whisky is in fact matured in casks imported from the US where they once contained bourbon whiskey...
The bike is a thing of beauty. One day I'll get a wooden bike maybe as a single speed cruiser.
Bugger the bike, I'm in love with the bike stand!
Depending on what "flavour" you want to get from your whisky, you use different casks, but for sure Glenmorangie don't make casks and they certainly don't start life as whisky casks, most are brought in from America as ex Bourbon casks that have been used for a couple of years.
There are very few if any left using brand new casks to make malt. Many use ex Bourbon, Sherry or Port casks.
Glenmorangie don't make or use whisky casks, these are whiskey casks that they've bought and have subsequently aged whisky in them.
/pedant
You've used the two spellings of whisky in your post, one of which is reserved solely for the product made in Scotland.
/pedant
and I've done that quite deliberately; bourbon whiskey must be aged in brand new barrels by US law, which are then sold to Scottish whisky manufacturers for reuse.
/pedant
/pedant
Mega kudos. I'll get back in my wee box.
Did you make the box yourself or have a used one shipped from America?
(Scotch will say ex-bourbon or ex-sherry, a reference to the previous cask's inhabitant)
The smell really does linger. I bought an old half-barrel as a pot for a small tree, not knowing the barrel's previous life. It had been treated then left outside at a garden centre getting all sorts of battering from the elements. Then it was outside in my garden for a few months. Even before I was drilling the drain holes, the whiff of bourbon (I'm a bit of a fan) was unmistakable. I could almost taste it while I was drilling.
If it's a whiskey cask when they buy it because it's had (American bourbon) whiskey aged in it, I think once it's had (Scotch, malt) whisky aged in it, then it has become a whisky cask.
Second hand casks have been used for Scotch for centuries - in the 17th C, it was often sherry, port, or madeira that had been used to ship the fortified wines to the UK. (Wikipedia says Macallan do make some of their own now, but lease them to sherry makers for a few years.)
And here I was thinking that a Tripster ATR would be my next bike. Mind you, I would slightly sooner have a Glenlivet version.