Updated Original Whisky Barrel Wedding Band
The whiskey barrel wooden ring is easily the favorite amongst my customers for a wedding ring. After I was able to secure a steady supply of the Jack Daniel’s barrel staves, my customers and I became obsessed with getting our hands on staves from other brands of bourbon, scotch, and whiskey of various other persuasions to use in wood rings. I now have an ever growing list of available distillery options to choose from to customize a whiskey barrel wood ring:
Jack Daniel’s (Lynchburg, Tennessee)
Woodford Reserve (Woodford County, Kentucky)
Four Roses (Lawrenceburg, Kentucky)
Stranahan’s (Denver, Colorado)
Pappy van Winkle (Frankfort, Kentucky)
Old Rip van Winkle (Frankfort, Kentucky)
Buffalo Trace (Frankfort, Kentucky)
Angel’s Envy (Louisville, Kentucky)
Knob Creek (Clermont, Kentucky)
Jim Beam (Clermont, Kentucky)
Maker’s Mark (Loretto, Kentucky)
Yamazaki (Shimamoto, Japan)
Hibiki (shimamoto, Japan)
Hakushu (Hokuto, Japan)
Dry Fly (Spokane, Washington)
Old Forester (Louisville, Kentucky)
Garrison Brothers (Hye, Texas)
Yellow Rose (Houston, Texas)
Firestone and Robertson (Fort Worth, Texas)
Founders Beer (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Cedar Ridge (Swisher, Iowa)
High West (Park City, Utah)
Blanton’s (Frankfort, Kentucky)
Blue Ridge (Bostic, North Carolina)
Tuthilltown (Gardiner, New York)
Detroit City (Detroit, Michigan)
Scotch
The Macallan (Moray, Scotland)
Kilchoman (Islay, Scotland)
Balvenie (Dufftown, Scotland)
Laphroaig (Islay, Scotland)
Please understand that if you choose to custom order a whiskey barrel and wood ring, it will NOT come with a certificate of authenticity. This is because my customers have been sourcing their own staves directly from the distilleries of their choice for years now. If you want to work out some sort of certification or letter from the distillery of your choice, you can work that out directly with them. Most distilleries, with the exception of scotch brands (who tend to be more stingy), are happy to send over a piece of their stave. This is because scotch barrels can be reused several times, while bourbon is aged in new barrels for every batch. In one instance, when a customer asked a distillery for a piece of stave and told them that they intended it to be used in a wood ring for their wedding, a higher up intervened and not only fulfilled his request, but also contributed $100 toward the purchase!
There are some barrel staves I have not been able to acquire. If you don’t see your favorite distillery listed, customers in the past have had great luck with acquiring their own staves for a wood ring. Contact your favorite distillery, have the stave sent to me, and I’d be thrilled to work with it to design your own custom wood ring. If you are able to get ahold of the distillery (via email or phone), I will provide the shipping address to have them ship the wood directly to me. Please understand that it may take some time to receive an answer from your specific distillery, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time before you need your bourbon barrel wood ring. Once I receive the stave and your order is placed, my turnaround time is about 5-6 weeks.
The default stave used for a wood ring will be Jack Daniel’s if a specific distillery is not specified in the “wood choice” section at checkout. Do note that most of these staves, regardless of source, will look nearly identical in color and pattern, as they are all charred American White Oak. This is a requirement for it to be called bourbon (or for Macallan, scotch, which is aged in USED oak barrels, versus new for bourbon). The color of the oak will vary from a light blonde to a light caramel. The darker the stock, the closer that piece was to the charred part of the cask or further within the soak line. If you prefer a darker piece of stave for your wood ring, you can make this request in the “notes” section on the order form at checkout. It will be a shade or two darker only.
The one exception to the similar coloring and look of the staves in these special wood rings is Angel’s Envy. What makes this brand unique and gives it a different appearance is that after the whiskey is aged in American White Oak casks, it is then finished in port wine casks. This adds a brown/purple hue to the wood, which in turn gives the wood ring a more unique look than the standard whiskey barrel wood ring. One thing to note about Angel’s Envy: in order for the wine stain to be preserved in the ring, the wood must be cut a certain way. This limits the size of rings using this brand of stave to 9.5, maximum. If it must be larger, I can still use Angel's Envy wood, but it will not feature the port win stain in the same way.
The style options available for the whiskey barrel wood ring has grown significantly since I first introduced the wood in my designs. Any of the styles you see in my shop can be used with the whiskey distillery of your choice, but here are a few favorites:
If you’re not sure about which metal you’d like to go with your whiskey barrel wood ring, I wrote a comparison of the metals I offer here:
http://www.wedgewoodrings.com/blog/2016/1/18/comparing-metals-for-wood-rings
If you need help with other parts of placing your order for a wood ring, I have a step-by-step guide here:
http://www.wedgewoodrings.com/blog/2016/6/19/how-to-order-a-wedgewood-ring