With "No matter how", Clan Campbell Challenges Whisky Conventions, with Herezie

Nov. 13, 2026

While the whisky category may hold less appeal for part of younger generations, it might not simply be a matter of taste. It is also everything that used to go with it: the right glass, the right moment, the right way to serve it, and almost a set of instructions you had to follow before you’re allowed to touch it.

A category where the rituals have sometimes become as intimidating as the product itself…

Clan Campbell Smooth Shot Vanilla offers a distinctive approach to all of that. By adding vanilla notes to the whisky and designing the product to be drunk chilled, as a shot, Clan Campbell is already offering new rules right from the bottle. So the campaign had to renew them too.

With “No matter how”,  say goodbye to crystal glassware, leather armchair and open fire. Smooth Shot is poured in a shot glass, of course. But also in an egg cup, an espresso cup or the bottle’s own cap. In short, whatever’s at hand. A reality that younger generations know all too well: when you fancy a shot, you don’t first check whether you’ve got the right glassware. You improvise.

Through its print and digital films, shot by New York-based photographer Alex Lau, Clan Campbell thus transforms the absence of rules into a new ritual. A whisky liqueur that stays true to its Scottish roots, but leaves the formalities to previous generations.