The Old Fitzgerald backgammon set is a limited-edition collaboration between Heaven Hill’s wheated bourbon brand Old Fitzgerald and New York potter and designer Jonathan Adler, announced in Bardstown, Kentucky on 14 October 2026. The board combines Adler’s bold patterns with Old Fitzgerald’s signature greens and a brushed brass key motif borrowed from the brand’s 1950s decanter era. It costs $425 from the Heaven Hill Distillery Shop, with a smaller allocation on Jonathan Adler’s website. Orders placed by 14 December arrive before the holidays. The bourbon it is designed to sit beside, Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year Old (50% ABV), is sold separately.
Some bourbon brands sell you a bottle. Old Fitzgerald has always tried to sell you the evening around it.
The newest proof of that is not a whiskey at all. It is a backgammon set, designed with Jonathan Adler, and it leans hard on an idea the brand has carried since the 1950s: Old Fitz as the bottle you put out when people come over.
What is the Old Fitzgerald backgammon set?
The Jonathan Adler x Old Fitzgerald Backgammon Set is a limited-edition game set built to sit on a coffee table or bar cart rather than in a cupboard. Adler supplies the graphic confidence he is known for, bold patterns and playful motifs. Old Fitzgerald supplies the visual cues long-time drinkers will recognise from the shelf: the brand’s signature shades of green and a brushed brass key.
That key is the clever bit. It refers to “Your Key to Hospitality”, the tagline Old Fitzgerald has used since it introduced its decanter bottle in the 1950s, a bottle designed to be shown off on a well-set table. Putting the key on a game board is a neat way of moving that hospitality idea from the bottle to the thing you gather around.
Heaven Hill frames the release around the comeback of analogue pastimes, with people looking for reasons to put phones down and spend time face to face. Adler, characteristically, keeps it lighter. “Design inspiration can come from anywhere, even a glass of whiskey,” he says, adding that backgammon is his favourite game.
The key facts
Product: Jonathan Adler x Old Fitzgerald Backgammon Set (limited edition) Announced: 14 October 2026, Bardstown, Kentucky
Price: $425 Where to buy: Heaven Hill Distillery Shop (shop.heavenhilldistillery.com); select quantities at jonathanadler.com/oldfitz
Holiday cut-off: order by 14 December 2026 for delivery before the holidays
Bourbon included: No. The set is positioned as a pairing for Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year Old, sold separately
Number of sets: not disclosed
Why Old Fitzgerald and design go together
Few American whiskey brands have treated packaging as part of the product for as long as Old Fitzgerald. The name was first trademarked in 1884, and the brand’s early reputation was built in places where presentation mattered: luxury rail cars, steamships and private clubs.
The origin story is one of bourbon’s better ones. The brand takes its name from John E. Fitzgerald, a treasury agent remembered for helping himself to whiskey from the very barrels he was supposed to be guarding. The barrels he favoured were said to be the best in the warehouse, which is about as good a quality endorsement as a whiskey brand can ask for.
Heaven Hill acquired Old Fitzgerald in 1999 as part of its purchase of the Bernheim Distillery in Louisville, along with stocks of maturing wheated bourbon. Since 2018 the brand has been best known among collectors for its twice-yearly Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series, released in cut-glass decanters that echo the bottles of the 1950s and 1960s. A backgammon board is a logical next step for a brand that has always cared how it looks on the table.
The bourbon it is made to pair with: Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year Old
Heaven Hill pairs the set with Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year Old, launched in 2025 as the brand’s first year-round signature expression and a Gold medal winner at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
For international readers: “Bottled-in-Bond” is a US legal designation dating back to the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. The whiskey must come from a single distillery and a single distilling season, be aged for at least four years in a government-supervised bonded warehouse, and be bottled at exactly 100 proof, which is 50% ABV. Old Fitzgerald prints the distilling season and year on the neck of each bottle.
Old Fitzgerald is a wheated bourbon, meaning wheat rather than rye is the secondary grain after corn. Heaven Hill’s wheated mash bill is widely reported as 68% corn, 20% wheat and 12% malted barley, the same base used for its Larceny range. Wheat typically gives a softer, bready sweetness where rye would bring pepper and spice.
Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year Old: published tasting notes
Nose: graham cracker, honey, fresh bread, brown sugar
Palate: cinnamon, apricot, baking spice, caramel
Finish: medium to long, drying oak, lingering spice
ABV: 50% (100 proof) | Cask type: new charred American oak | Age: 7 years | Price:$59.99 SRP (US)
Tasting notes are the brand’s and published trade notes. We have not tasted the 7 Year Old for this piece.
At around $60, it sits between the entry-level Old Fitzgerald Prime and the far scarcer Decanter Series, which makes it the most realistic way into the brand for most drinkers, and the obvious bottle to open next to the board.
Is the Old Fitzgerald backgammon set worth $425?
Judged as whiskey merchandise, $425 is a serious price. Judged as a Jonathan Adler piece, it is in line with his design-led home objects, and it comes with a brand story that a plain designer board does not.
This is for the bourbon drinker who already owns the glassware and the decanter and wants the rest of the table to match, and for anyone buying a gift for a wheated-bourbon fan who has every bottle they want. It is also a good fit for collectors of Old Fitzgerald’s decanter era, since the brass key ties directly to that history.
It is not for someone who wants more whiskey for their money. For the same $425 you could put several bottles of the 7 Year Old on the shelf. The set is about the ritual around the pour, not the pour itself.
Availability and international shipping
The set is sold through the Heaven Hill Distillery Shop and, in smaller numbers, through jonathanadler.com. Heaven Hill has not stated how many sets were made, so “limited edition” should be read as “when it is gone, it is gone”.
The release does not mention international shipping. Readers outside the US should check the shipping options at checkout on both shops. Because the set contains no alcohol, it is not bound by the restrictions that usually stop distillery shops shipping whiskey abroad, but availability will depend on each retailer’s own policy.
If you want it under the tree, the cut-off is 14 December 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Old Fitzgerald backgammon set? It is a limited-edition backgammon set created by Old Fitzgerald Bourbon and designer Jonathan Adler, announced on 14 October 2026. The board mixes Adler’s bold patterns with Old Fitzgerald’s signature greens and a brushed brass key motif, a nod to the brand’s long-running “Your Key to Hospitality” tagline and its 1950s decanter bottle.
How much does the Jonathan Adler x Old Fitzgerald backgammon set cost? The set costs $425. It is sold through the Heaven Hill Distillery Shop, with select quantities also available on Jonathan Adler’s website. Heaven Hill has not disclosed how many sets were produced, so availability is limited. Orders placed by 14 December 2026 are scheduled to arrive before the holidays.
Does the Old Fitzgerald backgammon set include bourbon? No. The backgammon set is a game set only. Heaven Hill positions it as a pairing for Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, which is bottled at 50% ABV (100 proof) and has a suggested US retail price of $59.99. The bourbon must be bought separately.
Can I buy the Old Fitzgerald backgammon set outside the US? The launch announcement does not mention international shipping. The set is sold online through the Heaven Hill Distillery Shop and jonathanadler.com. Since it contains no alcohol, spirits shipping rules do not apply, but delivery depends on each retailer’s policy. International buyers should check shipping options at checkout before ordering.
What is Old Fitzgerald bourbon? Old Fitzgerald is a wheated Kentucky bourbon brand first trademarked in 1884 and owned by Heaven Hill since 1999. It is named after John E. Fitzgerald, a treasury agent who reputedly sampled from the barrels in his care. Today it is known for its Bottled-in-Bond 7 Year Old and the collectable twice-yearly Decanter Series.
What does Bottled-in-Bond mean? Bottled-in-Bond is a US designation created by the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. The whiskey must be distilled at one distillery in one distilling season, aged at least four years in a government-supervised bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof (50% ABV). The label must identify the distillery where it was made.
Leave a Reply