Single Malt Decor?

@AKGcandlefish thanks for bringing this up. I've been searching for single malt barware and decor for a while and have come up short. Great topic.

Try referring to your favorite Scottish pubs. See how they decorate. They often achieve a nice blend of brand name stuff along with old world charm.

@AKGcandlefish I agree with teebone: great topic. It's a search that requires patience to be sure.

While visiting family in Kansas my sister-in-law drug us to yet another junk store. Yawn. But that's where I bought a wooden Laphroaig case (12-pack) that the Laphroaig Master Ambassador guessed was from the 1940s. I've also found a few blended Scotch water pitchers in second-hand shops. Vintage single malt stuff seems rare to me because it's a product that's gained notoriety in the USA rather recently (1980s).

There are some modern single malt pitchers, flasks, glassware, and other bobs that can be gotten from the distilleries. Laphroaig's Friends of Laphroaig program lets you accumulate points with each bottle purchase that you can redeem for "stuff" from the FOL shop (you pay the shipping). Occasionally you might find a liquor shop or on-premise establishment that gets a few modern giveaway bobs from the USA importers. Sometimes it's simply a matter of asking the shop keeper / bar manager.

Happy hunting.

@AKGcandlefish Great discussion I've decorated my office with empty whisky tins from all the single malts that I've bought or been given as gifts. My office is out of the way so as to not be seen as inappropriate by visitors / coworkers. My admiral / wife said what about old barrels made into chairs and tables, décor is such a big area to cover. Perhaps home made shadow boxes artifacts from your favorite drams. Lifting labels from whisky bottles and using the corks for a dart board... just some ideas to share. Hope this was helpful. :)

I've had the same problem, trying to find items to decorate the walls of my home pub. The only Scotch signs I found, is a classic Striding Man and a Black & White Blend tin signs from Amazon. I also found a larger tin sign advertising hotel accomodations on The Isle of Skye, that a found in a local speciality shop that sells items imported from the UK.

I also framed and hung my lifetime lease of a square foot of Islay from Laphroaig, my Barrel dedication certificate from Maker's Mark, and my membership certificates to Jura's The Diurachs, Bowmore's Ileach Community, Glenfarclas Global Family, and the Bardstown Whiskey Society. I also had a custom bar sign made, with the pub named after my clan affiliation (MacKenzie's Scottish Pub), with myself listed as owner and barkeep. Small touches on the bar include a cigar humidor with a Dalmore/MacKenzie stag's head attached to the lid, "Keep Calm and Carry On" coasters, Bufallo Trace and Maker's Mark bar mats on the front and back bar, and lastly a Police Public Call Box/Tardis model sitting in the corner of the back bar.

In addition to actual bottles on display, the following are in my home bar:

Tins. My (basement) bar happens to have a bank of high windows interrupted by regular columns of wood framing. Each column is surrounded by a cluster of tins, one region per column. (I tried to display boxes likewise, but these looked shoddy. If I want to keep a cool box for sentimental reasons, I cut off just the face and use it for a bookmark. I suppose the heavier-weight boxes cut into squares could also serve as lighter-weight coasters with limited lifespans.)

Maps. I returned home from Scotland a couple years ago with various souvenir maps, including cartoony ones of Islay and Skye that depict distilleries. These are framed on the wall.

That's it. -- it's not a whole lot, but the clustered tins make quite a statement. (The rest of my bar decor fits a different though not incongruous theme: Medieval Irish Pub!)

@AKGcandlefish An actual Scottish bag piper would be nice.

@AKGcandlefish Perhaps you might want to think about expanding your theme for a malt decor. Anyone can collect empty bottles and display them. What I did was take another one of my interests and blend it in with my single malts. Single malts from Scotland and golf are the perfect marriage. Over my bar I have antique golf clubs and other golf related items. On the walls, there are antique prints of the Old Course at St. Andrews, etc. It gives my bar the feel like you have stepped into the past. When people visit, they have a selection of single malts to choose from and then they also have the opportunity to wander around and see what I have collected over the years.

@PeterG7 Great idea on the old golf decor. Really takes you back. Also probably a little easier to find than straight single malt whisky decor. I would think framed photos of Scotland scenery, distillery photos, the coasts, even a peat bog would work as well.

You might check Etsy. It's hand-made (usually) art and while it's got a lot of fan art for video games, movies, etc, I searched Scotch Whisky on it and did find some stuff. It's not original, vintage posters, but you might find something you like there. There also do seem to be prints of old ads, for example:

etsy.com/ca/listing/…

Also, interesting housewares:

etsy.com/ca/listing/…

Search around there, you never know what you'll find.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," I've heard. Try this:

whiskycast.shootproof.com/event/105719/…

One thing you have to remember is that in the UK at least, for the latter part of the 20th century, Scottish Whisky producers focused most of their attention on blends. Single malts were thought to be too specialised for the general public and so most related advertising posters etc would reflect that market.

@two-bit-cowboy Fantastic find, and great idea! These are beautiful.