McKay Flooring's Whiskey Barrel Flooring Catching On

McKay Flooring Ltd. (Glasgow, Scotland) recently netted a £200,000 deal to provide Whiskey Barrel Flooring-which is made from used Scotch whiskey barrels-for the new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow's East End, according to The Herald. The deal is worth approximately $312,000.

Richard McKay, a director at the family-owned company, says his new product has attracted interest from specifiers from around the world, including Denmark, Mexico, Malaysia, China, Russia, Japan and the U.S. Even though McKay expects 2010 sales to be around £3.3 million, down from £3.9 million it made in 2009, he's attempting to mitigate the effects of the economic downturn with innovative products like Whiskey Barrel Flooring, which was developed in conjunction with Glasgow-based Sustainable Wood Solutions.

The flooring features occasional branding marks left by coopers and distilleries. "The range of these barrels is really quite extraordinary," McKay told The Herald. "Some are sherry barrels from the Spanish town of Jerez, others are bourbon barrels from all over the U.S., which can only be used once to mature bourbon because of American trade union agreements-so there is no shortage of them." So, the next time you're enjoying that glass of whisky, you could be contributing to an innovative flooring product.