Elijah Craig Hosts Inaugural Old Fashioned Week in UK

Elijah Craig Bourbon is pleased to announce its inaugural Old Fashioned Week in the UK. This ten-day celebration, which will take place from October 11th to 20th, 2024, celebrates this iconic cocktail while raising money for a great cause.

Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week was first launched in the US in 2020 as a means to uplift the hospitality community during a time of need. It was rolled out across Canada in 2022, and 2024 will be its inaugural year in the UK.

“Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week was created in 2020 with two goals: support the hospitality industry at a critical moment of need and create ways for our community to remain connected at a time when we simply couldn’t meet for a drink,” said Max Stefka, Group Product Director at Heaven Hill. “Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week is now becoming a global movement with three countries and over 3,000 participating bars from every facet of the industry taking part.”

Bars across the UK will be serving their own riff on an Elijah Craig Old Fashioned. Already confirmed to participate include Dram Bar, Soho and a complete list of participating bars can be found here.

Elijah Craig has partnered with The Drinks Trust, a UK charity dedicated to the drinks and hospitality workforce, which strives to empower industry people through services designed to assist financially, restore well-being and develop skills, and to do so with compassion and respect. Elijah Craig will be donating £1 for every Old Fashioned sold (up to £10,000) to The Drinks Trust.

Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week events in the US and Canada will also be supporting national charity partners: 

- In the US, Elijah Craig pledges to donate $1 for every Old Fashioned sold (up to $100,000) to the Southern Smoke Foundation

- In Canada, Elijah Craig pledges to donate $1 for every Old Fashioned sold (up to $25,000) to the Bartenders Benevolent Fund

As part of Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week, UK bartenders are also invited to submit their innovative take on the Old Fashioned in a nationwide competition, where judge Simon Difford will name the ultimate Old Fashioned innovator.

Heaven Hill Portfolio Mixologist Lynn House says, “For bartenders, whiskey connoisseurs, and cocktail fans, the Old Fashioned is merely a jumping off point: a blank canvas that invites experimentation and challenges perceptions of what the cocktail is - and what it could be.” 

Entries will be accepted until November 1^st, 2024, for a chance to win a cash prize of £1,000 and have their cocktail published on Difford’s Guide. For details on how to enter visit the Elijah Craig Old Fashioned Week website.