The Collaboration
Old Fitzgerald Bourbon and designer Jonathan Adler have debuted the Jonathan Adler x Old Fitzgerald Backgammon Set, a $425 limited-edition piece that marries 19th-century bourbon heritage with contemporary decorative design. The set is available now through the Heaven Hill Distillery Shop and select quantities on Adler's website, with orders placed by December 14 shipping in time for the holidays.
The set draws on Old Fitzgerald's visual identity — its signature shades of green and a brushed brass key motif referencing the brand's longtime "Your Key to Hospitality" tagline — blended with Adler's characteristically bold patterns and playful sensibility. The result is a functional game board that doubles as a bar or entertaining statement piece, designed to anchor cocktail hours, game nights, and holiday gatherings. It pairs with Old Fitzgerald's Bottled-in-Bond 7-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, the brand's newest year-round expression and a Gold medal winner at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Why It Matters for Hospitality
For on-premise operators and beverage directors, the collaboration is a window into a broader consumer trend worth tracking: the resurgence of analog social games as a driver of dwell time and group spending. Backgammon, chess, and tabletop games have quietly reappeared on the programming menus of hotel bars, upscale lounges, and cocktail-forward restaurants as guests increasingly seek immersive, face-to-face experiences over passive screen time. A premium spirits brand investing in that cultural moment — and attaching a recognizable luxury design name to it — signals that the category sees real commercial value in the pairing.
Old Fitzgerald's parent, Heaven Hill Distillery, has built a reputation for connecting its portfolio to lifestyle occasions. The Bardstown, Ky.-based distillery maintains more than 2 million barrels aging across more than 70 warehouses and has been named Distiller of the Year nine times in the past five years, including by Whisky Magazine in 2023 and 2024. Old Fitzgerald itself is best known for its wheated mashbill and twice-annual limited decanter releases, which have made it a perennial target for allocated whiskey collectors.
The Operator Angle
"Bourbon and backgammon have always been a timeless pairing, united by tradition, ritual and the belief that the best things are meant to be savored and enjoyed in good company — a sentiment at the core of Old Fitzgerald," said Leslie Word, Brand Manager of Old Fitzgerald. The set's positioning leans into that hospitality narrative, making it a credible gifting or programming prop for beverage-forward venues looking to deepen the experiential layer of their bar programs.
For buyers and program directors sourcing holiday gift sets or experiential retail for hotel gift shops and bar merchandise shelves, the set's $425 price point places it squarely in the premium lifestyle tier — comparable to bespoke cocktail kits and artisan barware sets that have gained traction as ancillary revenue items. As our beverage industry analysis has shown, limited-edition spirits collaborations with design talent consistently outperform standard gift sets in both sell-through velocity and earned media. For broader context on how spirits brands are activating around on-premise experiences, see our restaurant technology and experience coverage.
Food & Beverage Magazine has also tracked how analog entertainment programming is reshaping bar revenue strategies heading into the 2026 holiday season.
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.
