Dizzy apprentice gets covered in gunk

Reece Cooper has became a fully fledged Cooper as he went through his traditional blackening ceremony after finishing his four year traineeship at Speyside Cooperage last Friday.

It is a traditional but messy rite of passage that all coopers at the traditional barrel makers base in Craigellachie must go before they graduate.

The blackening involved the 20-year-old being surprised by his fellow coopers, stripped to his underwear and after being covered in treacle, feathers, flour and paint was put into the last barrel he did as an apprentice and rolled around in gunk.

Reece’s big brother Kyle Cooper also got blackened in 2016 after he completed his traineeship, to which Kyle said: “It is good to see him getting it done, it is about time.”

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.