They say you can be anything you want, so Glenmorangie is taking old whisky casks and turning them into brand “new” surfboards. You’ve probably never given much thought to whisky casks, so this just might interest you: the signature white oak casks for Glenmorangie Original are only ever used twice in their whisky-making lifetime. On one hand, the short 10-year lifespan guarantees the single malt’s complex and multifaceted flavour but on the other hand, what’s a cask to do once it has retired?
Surf. Well actually, get turned into a surfboard.
This effort is part of Glenmorangie’s Beyond the Cask project, where old casks are reimagined into something new. Dr Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks, explains, “People often ask us what happens to those casks after their whisky-making life is over. Beyond the Cask is our way of working with people who share our creative vision, passion and patience, to take this wood on another step in its journey.”
With a world of possibilities ahead (or as many as wood can have), Glenmorangie has partnered with Grain Surfboards, a brand hailing from the U.S. and known internationally. The good folks at Grain Surfboards are visionary creators of hand-built wooden surfboards, making them the perfect choice for this collaboration. To celebrate the wood that makes the whisky, they’ve built a series of exclusive limited-edition Glenmorangie Original wooden surfboards.
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Whisky and surfing don’t exactly go hand in hand (and we do not recommend it), but this marks a brilliant partnership for both brands given their ideals of true craftsmanship… and wood. The distillers have been perfecting the art of whisky-making for 175 years, while the surfing artisans are greatly inspired by boat building techniques.
The surfboards are works of art: hand-finished and meticulously “bookmatched” to showcase continuous patterns. Each board also packs Maine-grown northern white cedar, with reclaimed western red cedar and wood from 12 oak staves. “We’re really proud of these boards. It’s incredible that you can take a piece of wood that’s already worked hard and then give it new life as something absolutely beautiful,” says Grain Surfboards founder Mike LaVecchia.
The limited edition surfboards are available to order from www.grainsurfboarsds.com.
