Where Does the Barrel Roll?

“Investigating an underlying cultural connection.”

What it is about

This project explores the historic synergy between spirits and wine, inspired by whiskey labels referencing specific finishes. We’ve developed two outcomes: a data-driven web-map and a tangible placemat map. The web-map visualizes modern trade routes and distillery data, while the placemat offers an artistic guide inspired by personal tasting notes. Together, these tools bridge the gap between hard industry data and sensory history, offering both a digital deep dive and a physical keepsake that celebrates the global culture of spirits.

How we built it

We tried to source our information from various channels, ultimately settling on UN Comtrade data to track the movement of casks between the nations. We also scraped our own data from approximately 100 distillery websites to know if they utilize wine casks for their spirits. After compiling this dataset, we selected the most prominent route for the physical placemat and explored the history behind. We built the web map as an HTML file using D3.js library and our custom basemap, while using raster& vector-based design software for both the placemat design and web-map icons.

Challenges we ran into

The primary challenge for us was data acquisition, as our effort to contact distilleries initially resulted in nothing. After manual compilation, building the web map was a challenge as it was a new technical field for both of us.

What we're proud of

Our main achievement was compiling this unique dataset for this unseen cultural connection. We are also proud of our multi-medium approach, successfully meeting most of our initial goals with both digital and physical maps.

What we learned

We got new experiences in data acquisition, web mapping with code, and collaborative Git workflows. We also had to think of and implement a lot of alternative solutions, which taught us about the development process.

What's next

The future extension of this project lies in the open- source, editable dataset we have now. Additionally, the placemat serves as a concept for utilizing maps through their instructive, visual and storytelling appeal.