You probably saw the news coverage of Senator Clinton downing beer and whisky while on the campaign trail in Indiana. Well, it seems that Clinton’s attempt to rub elbows with the working class has backfired in some parts of the country. Certain folk are taking offense to her tippling. But it’s not the teetotalers who are making a stink. Rather, it’s the folks at Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky.

During a campaign stop in Crown Point, Indiana, Senator Clinton stopped at Bronko’s Restaurant to have a beer with supporters. When the bartender asked Clinton if she would like a shot to go with her beer, the Senator finally settled on belt of Crown Royal – a Canadian whisky. In a recent Wall Street Journal article on bourbon, Eric Felten noted that Clinton made the mistake of drinking a Canadian whisky and that "such a faux pas would never do in Kentucky, site of one of the few remaining presidential primaries." The article also included a tasting, which named Evan Williams "Best of Tasting and Best Value.”

Therefore, in a “preemptive strike against any future spirituous faux pas,” Heaven Hill President Max Shapira and Master Distiller Craig Beam sent a bottle of their Evan Williams bourbon to each presidential candidate. With the Kentucky primary approaching on May 20th, they couldn't bear the thought of any whiskey other than Kentucky bourbon appearing on the Bluegrass campaign trail. "Since it just won the Journal's tasting competition, I thought we should send each candidate a bottle of Evan Williams so they could familiarize themselves with what to drink when they're here for the primaries and general election," says Beam. "After all, bourbon was declared America's native spirit by a 1964 act of Congress, and my ancestors, and probably Evan Williams himself, would roll over in their graves if a bottle of Canadian whisky gets top billing here in Kentucky.”

Let’s hope their gesture works. I would hate to see another "Crown Royal-gate.”