The Campaign
Elijah Craig, the Heaven Hill Distillery-produced premium bourbon and rye portfolio, launched a consumer engagement campaign on September 1 asking fans to vote on a single standardized spelling — "whiskey" or "whisky" — as part of National Bourbon Heritage Month. The initiative pairs the Bardstown, Kentucky brand with its Scottish PGA TOUR brand ambassador Bob MacIntyre, currently ranked ninth in the world, and runs through September 29, with results announced on September 30.
Brand Strategy
The activation extends a partnership strategy Elijah Craig has built around golf's transatlantic audience. Elijah Craig holds official bourbon designations with both the PGA of America and the Ryder Cup, giving the brand structured access to a global, affluent consumer segment that overlaps heavily with the premium spirits category. MacIntyre, a native Scot, serves as a cultural bridge between American bourbon drinkers and Scotch whisky loyalists — two segments that premium spirits producers have increasingly targeted simultaneously as single-malt crossover interest grows across the U.S. market.
In the campaign video, MacIntyre declares for the "e" spelling, invoking Elijah Craig's historical claim as the originator of charred-oak barrel aging — a process the brand credits with transforming unaged corn distillate into modern bourbon. The Reverend Elijah Craig established his distillery in 1789 in what is now Georgetown, Kentucky, and the brand has long marketed that provenance as the foundation of its "Father of Bourbon" positioning.
Portfolio Context
The campaign arrives as the Elijah Craig portfolio carries notable competitive momentum. Its 2025 Barrel Proof Rye release earned Whisky Advocate's Whiskey of the Year designation, a credential that carries meaningful on-premise and retail shelf influence. The broader lineup — Small Batch, Toasted Barrel, Straight Rye, Barrel Proof, and Single Barrel expressions — spans price tiers from accessible to allocated, a structure that allows the brand to participate in both volume-driven on-premise bourbon programming and the high-margin allocated segment that commands collector premiums at auction and specialty retail.
For beverage directors and spirits buyers, the campaign's consumer-facing mechanics — a time-limited vote, social announcement, and ambassador video — are primarily a digital engagement and brand-awareness play rather than a product launch. No new SKUs, pricing changes, or distribution expansions were announced alongside the initiative. The practical takeaway for the trade is sustained marketing investment behind an already award-credentialed portfolio during the calendar month that historically generates the highest bourbon sales volume. As Food & Beverage Magazine has noted in its coverage of spirits marketing cycles, brand activations timed to Bourbon Heritage Month consistently outperform baseline engagement benchmarks for the category.
"I've spent plenty of time on both sides of the Atlantic, and one thing I've learned is that great whiskey, with or without the 'e,' is rooted in craftsmanship, tradition and bringing people together," MacIntyre said. "As a proud Scot, I'll always be fond of my Scotch whisky roots, but in the spirit of bourbon's U.S. heritage and bringing whiskey lovers together, I think the 'e' deserves its place."
Voting is open at ElijahCraig.com through September 29 at 11:59 p.m., with results posted to the brand's Instagram on September 30.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
