About Us

Hello I am Alasdair the owner, designer and creator of The Crafty Highlander.    

As a child I was brought up in the Speyside region of Scotland surrounded by Whisky and its environs.  This sparked a young passion after having various stories recounted to me by family members and friends regarding the evocative spirit.  

Fittingly I spent some time working in a distillery in my early adulthood and became acutely aware of the key role that the oak barrels played in the flavours of the whisky during maturation, giving a unique character to each single malt.   

In the years that followed I worked as a teacher, I would use my spare time to craft items for my friends and family using reclaimed whisky barrels, giving these barrels a further lease of life after their use in the Whisky industry had come to an end, this reuse and the sustainability aspect now underpins my businesses ethos.   

Fast forward and The Crafty Highlander was born growing my business leaving teaching behind and getting to do a job that I am passionate about.   

 

In my works each stave is assessed and chosen on size, colour, quality and whether it is charred or stained red from sherry casks to create my items. The staves are partially cleaned, to leave some evidence of their history, treated in natural oil and then used to craft my items.