Close-Up on Hungarian Workshop, Maker of Whiskey Barrel Furnishings

Interview with Balazs Moldovan, Proprietor of Hungarian Workshop

By Richard Thomas

(Credit: Hungarian Workshop)

One of the most enduring and appealing scenes for whiskey drinkers is sitting out on the patio and enjoying the evening with a finger or two of whiskey. The image is practically synonymous with the very idea of “sipping whiskey.”

Every whiskey lover has their own variation of that classic setting, but one tweak that any whiskey lover might appreciate: furniture made from old whiskey barrels. Besides the obvious value as a conversation piece, what could be more appropriate for enjoying your tumbler of bourbon than sitting in a deck chair made from old bourbon barrel staves?

One furniture shop in the whiskey barrel furnishings business is Balazs Moldovan, the man behind the Hungarian Workshop of San Diego, California. I recently spoke with Moldovan, an expert woodworker, about his line of whiskey barrel Adirondack furniture.

Moldovan selecting barrel staves
(Credit: Hungarian Workshop)

RT: What inspired you to build Adirondack chairs and tables from old whiskey barrel staves?

BM: About a year ago Stone Brewery hired The Hungarian Workshop to do all the outdoor furniture in the court yard for their corporate head quarters in Escondido, CA. We had our original Adirondack Chairs that were made from Red Wood that we actually purchased from many different places. While we were dropping off the first set of chairs we noticed that they had many unused wine barrels available that they were planning on disposing of. At that point it just kind of started falling into place. We produced a wine barrel chair about a week later and a than a whiskey barrel chair the following week.

RT: Where do you get your old barrels from?

BM: All of our Whiskey Barrel staves are shipped in directly from the source in Kentucky. We are proud of that.

RT: How does building chairs from old whiskey staves differ from building a chair from more ordinary material? Are there any special problems? For example, how do you protect the charred inner face of the staves, assuming you do something to do that?

BM: Barrels or Casks are typically made from 2 different types of wood. American and French oak. French oak is usually used for making wine barrels(both red and white) and American oak is used for whiskey barrels. One important thing to understand is that 80-90% of whiskey’s color and taste is derived from the barrel and the charred inside. Whiskey distilleries spend a lot of time making sure that the barrels they use are of a certain quality to produce the flavor that they are looking for. Production lumber is not what it was 50 years ago. This is why building furniture out of this material is a perfect alternative than going to the store and buying materials that, in all actuality, are not the same quality and has a negative effect on our environment.

The finished product
(Credit: Hungarian Workshop)

There are no real issues with any of our chairs. We originally thought it might be difficult to protect peoples clothing from the charred face of the chair but we sand charred part down to a smooth finish and polish it with teak oil and bee’s wax. This gives it a beautiful finish.

RT: Do they still smell like old whiskey?

BM: Our chairs do smell like whiskey when we ship them. A lot of what you are smelling in whiskey is from the barrel. It’s not overwhelming but it’s enough to show it’s character.