Bourbon’s inextricable connection to Kentucky thoroughbred racing practically fated what would become an avocation for an Ohio State University associate professor and veterinarian at the Galbreath Equine Center.

Forty-year-old Jonathan Yardley, better known as Bourbon Barrel Johnny — maker of premium bourbon barrel display cases — among his Etsy followers, said it was the love of horse racing that he shares with his wife that had the couple in Lexington, Ky., several years ago.

“So, we were down there watching horse racing and went to a distillery or two,” he said. “We saw some of these display cases being made and what they wanted for them. I just didn’t like the way they looked, and I was like, ‘I can do better than that.’”

He bought some barrels off an old college friend who buys from the secondary market, and about five years ago, began making them and selling them to friends.

“The response was: These are really good, really good,” he said of the first barrels he repurposed.

Yardley didn’t charge his friends for the work he put into them. Rather, he concentrated on perfecting his skills.

“I taught myself the craft,” he said.

Yardley, next, launched his Etsy store.

“Some people would buy and some wouldn’t, and I thought, ‘This would be fun.’ And it’s kind of grown from there.”

He said Etsy takes a large percentage of any sale, but the e-commerce site has proven invaluable for the small business operator who has a wife, full-time job and other interests.

Yardley said he doesn’t want to manage the aspects of his business that Etsy manages.

The garage behind Yardley’s home serves as his workshop. He insulated the building before he began working in earnest on his side hustle. It, along with a fan for air circulation, cut the edge off of the extreme heat central Ohio experienced last week.

He said a propane heater conversely helps out during the winter.

About 30 barrels filled the space — the majority of which were intact. Four or five of the barrels had begun the repurposing process and were missing a sizeable section from the “front” of the oak barrel.

Yardley transforms the hand-selected barrels that feature distillery stamps into a one-of-a-kind display case or cabinet.

After the barrel is cut, a middle shelf made from another bourbon barrelhead is built into the charred interior.

According to his website, all wood is charred American oak, as is required for the distillation of bourbon.

Pointing toward a couple of barrels that feature doors fashioned from the removed staves, Yardley said cabinet doors took him some time to figure out.

“I never wanted to do doors because they’re heavier to ship,” he said.

It was when a Cleveland customer worried that his cat may tip over his prized bottle collection that Yardley accepted the challenge.

“I’ve never done it before, but I’ll try,” he recalled telling the customer.

He noted that a barrel’s construction relies on a certain amount of flexibility.

“When I cut them apart,” he said, “they spring out on me.”

Cabinet doors compound the predicament, as they require being fitted back into the space from which they were cut.

“See how this (piece) kind of pops out here a little, but this one doesn’t,” he asked. “I have to kind of fine tune the sides to cut that down more, so they’ll come back together.”

He laughed at the thought that it was a cat that forced his hand in figuring out a method of making and installing properly functioning cabinet doors on a barrel.

Yardley said he appreciates all of the history associated with bourbon production, which is reflected in his work.

“I don’t stain these barrels at all,” he said.

Yardley antiques the new screws that he uses to make the cases.

“I just try to keep the rustic, natural look to the barrel and not try to hide anything,” he said.

He admitted to getting a couple of complaints a year about the barrel being too dusty. In such an instance, he said he apologizes for any inconvenience and explains that dust naturally results the charred barrels.

“That’s what a bourbon barrel is,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”

He said some prospective customers are seeking a super-sheen finish, but that’s not what Bourbon Barrel Johnny is about.

“This is not Ikea,” he said. “This is real stuff. That’s where I try to set myself apart, and most people have those expectations.”

If a certain customer likes Weller bourbon, he does his best to get a Weller barrel. Buffalo Trace barrels are his specialty.

“My buyer down there helps me out,” he said of his old college buddy. “He buys in huge volume. … There’s probably some savings, but what it is is I can get Buffalo Trace barrels when no one else can get (them). They’re super hard to get.”

He said the secondary bourbon-barrel market depends heavily on having an inside connection at one of the distilleries.

“It’s worked out well for me that I’m able to get some barrels,” he said. “There are still barrels I can’t get — no one can find a Maker’s Mark right now because they don’t exist in the secondary market.”

For the customer who drinks a blended bourbon, he said he’ll do his best to get a barrel that contained a matching blend.

Though business has dropped off as people have begun to venture back out for normal warm-weather activity, Yardley recorded a 400 percent spike in sales at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic set things in motion,” he said. “People were just buying like crazy. It’s gone down, but it’s still above where it was two years ago. I guess if I didn’t have a real full-time job I could do this.”

A neighbor boy who expressed interest in the cabinetry and finishing work Yardley does has helped out in the workshop the past year, he said.

As an educator, he enjoys being able to give a teenager who is not necessarily interested in academics an opportunity to try his hand at a trade. If the market remains steady, Yardley figured he one day could turn over the business to his protégé.

He said his wife also helps every now and again. She sometimes ventures beyond the menial tasks Yardley assigns her, having produced custom-painted signs on oak staves and barrelhead lazy susans.

The average display case takes between five and eight hours to transform. He typically completes the cases in batches, Yardley said.

Bourbon Barrel Johnny encourages special orders and requests for different styles and brands of bourbon.

“During the day I have to teach and do a lot of client relations,” he said. “When I’m out here, I turn my brain off, or it’s a different part of the brain that I use.”

He said he co-chairs the wellbeing committee at work and recognizes the benefit of interests outside his day job. In addition to his sideline business, Yardley and his wife compete in the Columbus Curling Club for much needed winter recreation.

“I have to practice what I preach and leave work on time to go do something else,” he joked.

In addition to his Etsy store, Yardley sells his wares on his website — www.bourbonbarreljohnny.com. Display cases start at $900 and cabinets range in price from $1,000 and $1,350. The company ships via Federal Express ground delivery.

As for the business name, Yardley said his colleagues back in vet school called him Johnny “and it just kind of stuck.”