Glenfiddich and Aston Martin’s unexpected synergy 

The two iconic companies in disparate industries bonded over a shared passion for craftsmanship. 

It is no secret that innovation is a high-stakes game, and nobody knows this more than Brian Kinsman, the long-standing malt master at single malt Scotch distillery Glenfiddich. 

Developing the recipe for a limited-release single malt can involve drawing from half-century-old casks, containing liquids so valuable that the small samples alone are worth tens of thousands of pounds. 

Working with such eye-wateringly expensive product demands a degree of courage and conviction. Still, Kinsman takes it in his stride, and parent company William Grant & Sons is supportive of responsible experimentation. 

“Honestly, the best thing is to try not thinking about it, because you wouldn’t get to sleep,” Kinsman told Forbes Australia during a recent visit to Sydney to celebrate the Australian-exclusive Archive Collection 1990 Cask #4555 release. “We’re still a family-owned business and probably, as a result, a little bit more willing to take risks over the years.” 

Now the world’s most-awarded single malt scotch whisky has just released its oldest single malt yet: a 65-Year-Old to celebrate its new partnership with the iconic Aston Martin Formula 1® Team. It was fortuitous that Glenfiddich had a very rare sherry butt in its archive dating back to 1959, when Aston Martin made its first foray into Formula One ®. 

“While the building of an Aston Martin Formula 1® car differs in form from the traditional techniques of Glenfiddich’s in-house coopers, there was an unmistakable similarity in the focus on expert craftsmanship and rigour.” 

Brian Kinsman

The Glenfiddich 1959 won’t go cheap. Bottles of a previous release of exceptionally old whisky, the 64-year-old Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937, which went to market in 2001, have sold at auction for as high as £80,000 (more than A$160,000). 

Fortunately for the majority of drinkers unable to procure one of only a handful of bottles of this ancient dram, Glenfiddich is also cementing the Aston Martin Formula 1® Team partnership with a new 16-year-old Single Malt exclusively married and matured in American oak casks to create a rich and layered sweetness for a drink of rich and layered sweetness. 

Risk-takers of the whisky world 

William Grant & Sons has built a reputation over the decades for taking calculated risks. 

It was not long ago when single Malt Whisky was considered an idea best left on the fringe. Scotch was made by blending malt spirits with distillations of other grains like corn or wheat, resulting in a lighter and more consistent product. 

That was until 1961, when Glenfiddich took the bold step of promoting 100% malt whisky from a single distillery–similar to the widely accepted idea of buying wine from a single chateau–and began promoting this rich and distinctive drink globally. 

The bet paid off. Single Malt Whisky has become ubiquitous, and Glenfiddich single malt is the world’s most awarded. 

Now the family business faces a new set of challenges, notably reaching a changing group of consumers with whisky. Fortunately, several consumer mega-trends–such as premiumisation and ‘drinking less but drinking better’–play directly to the company’s strengths. 

“For me personally, I think that’s such a refreshing thing,” says Kinsman. “I don’t want to see people absolutely quaffing whisky. We spent a lot of time making it, and we’ve taken a lot of care getting the flavour profile just right, so you want to see it being appreciated, enjoyed, because it’s a luxury.” 

Glenfiddich’s premium and ultra-premium whisky releases are experiencing growing popularity, along with single malt more broadly. A 2023 Hall & Partners Quantitative Survey found the popularity of dark spirits had grown in recent years, with 2.3 million new drinkers entering the category between 2021 and 2022–a 19 per cent growth. The biggest group of these drinkers were aged 25 to 34 years, and 44 per cent were female. 

Traditions meet modern craftsmanship

Glenfiddich announced its partnership with Aston Martin Formula 1® Team last year, bringing together two famed companies. 

Entering the Aston Martin Formula 1® Team home in Silverstone, England, was an eye-opening experience for Kinsman, the company’s sixth malt master since it was founded in 1887, who learned his skills through a “verbal handover” dating back to William Grant himself. 

Kinsman admits he was expecting top-notch engineering, but not the craftsmanship he witnessed in building F1 cars. 

“The technology and attention to detail in building an Aston Martin Formula 1® car is nothing short of extraordinary”, Kinsman says. “Every component is shaped with cutting-edge precision, from the layering of carbon fibre to the aerodynamic fine-tuning. Yet, what struck me most was how essential human instinct and expertise still are at every stage of the process. While the building of an Aston Martin Formula 1® car differs in form from the traditional techniques of Glenfiddich’s in-house coopers, there was an unmistakable similarity in the focus on expert craftsmanship and rigour.” 

Inspired, he set the blending team to work. They created the new and limited edition Glenfiddich 16-year-old single malt, celebrating the many layers American oak brings to scotch, with its signature sweetness and vanilla notes accentuating the fruitiness of Glenfiddich. 

“We use ex-bourbon barrels, we use American red wine casks, and we use once-used virgin oak barrels, and each one brings a different intensity of that American oak note,” Kinsman says. 

The partnership with Aston Martin Formula 1® Team also offers strong business synergies. F1® fans are not only premium consumers, but also a different demographic to the traditional whisky drinker, Kinsman says. 

“They’re younger, and a lot more females watch Formula 1 today than ever before,” he says. “So for us to be involved in it, it feels like we’ve got the opportunity to put whisky in front of people that wouldn’t have considered it in the past.” 

Continuing the tradition

 Kinsman signs off on every whisky that goes out the door, spending most days in the sample room, working through some 200 samples with a blending team, in batches of 20 to 25, before breaking it up with other office jobs to give the palate a rest. 

Creating a new blend can involve drawing from hundreds of casks and blending them into a single bottle before scaling up. 

Working with casks that were distilled long before Kinsman joined the company 23 years ago brings a poignant appreciation for the current moment in time, along with the intergenerational stewardship that comes with working for a company founded in 1887. 

Today, that same company continues to evolve, building new relationships with younger consumers and like-minded peers. 

“It’s a nice thing to feel like you’re part of that chain, that legacy that goes right back to the start,” Kinsman says. 

Buy the new limited-edition Glenfiddich 16-Year-Old now at First Choice, Liquorland and independent retailers nationally.