For the beverage operators and bar programs stocking both Scotch and American Bourbon, Elijah Craig is leaning into that cross-category tension with a timely consumer engagement play. The Bardstown, Kentucky-based brand is running a public vote throughout September on whether the world should standardize on "whiskey" or "whisky" — and it has enlisted Scottish PGA Tour professional Bob MacIntyre, currently ranked ninth worldwide, to make the case for the American spelling.
The Campaign Mechanics
Voting is open now through September 29 at 11:59 PM at ElijahCraig.com, with results announced on September 30 — the final day of National Bourbon Heritage Month. The campaign is anchored by a video in which MacIntyre, a proud Scot, publicly sides with the "e" spelling as a nod to Elijah Craig, the eighteenth-century distiller credited with first aging corn spirit in charred oak barrels. "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," MacIntyre said.
Why It Matters for On-Premise
For restaurant and bar operators, campaigns like this one matter beyond the marketing noise. Consumer crossover interest between Scotch and American Bourbon has been a sustained trend, and brand activations built around that overlap can generate engagement at the back bar. The Elijah Craig effort follows MacIntyre's International Whiskey Day push in late March, when he invited Scotch drinkers to swap their spirit for a dram of Bourbon — continuing a campaign arc that positions Elijah Craig explicitly as a bridge brand rather than a category purist.
Elijah Craig holds the title of Official Bourbon of the PGA of America and the Ryder Cup, making a Scottish golfer an especially pointed choice for the ambassador role. The brand's broader portfolio — Small Batch, Toasted Barrel, and Straight Rye among them — gives on-premise accounts multiple entry points for Scotch-curious consumers looking to explore American whiskey. Notably, the brand's inaugural Barrel Proof Rye release earned Whisky Advocate's Whiskey of the Year honors for 2025, underscoring its standing in the premium tier.
Produced by Heaven Hill Distillery and first brought to market in 1986, Elijah Craig has built its reputation on small-batch curation long before that term entered the mainstream spirits lexicon. For beverage directors managing diverse back-bar programs, the brand's crossover positioning — and the consumer conversation this campaign is designed to spark — offers a low-friction reason to feature it in Bourbon Heritage Month programming. Operators interested in the broader dynamics of premium spirits can follow beverage industry analysis and restaurant beverage program coverage on this site for ongoing trade context.
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.
