Inside Club 1959 With Glenfiddich and Aston Martin Formula One Team
“Club 1959 isn’t a physical place,” Glenfiddich national brand ambassador Jamie Johnson said last week in Montreal, “it’s a place in your heart.”
Johnson and Glenfiddich were in town to celebrate the distillery’s partnership with Aston Martin Formula One Team — new for this season — with Club 1959, a nod to the year that Aston Martin Formula One Team made its debut.
While race weekend was undoubtedly the high point for Club 1959, fans will be able to immerse themselves in the experience throughout the month of June at iconic spots in Montreal: Marcus at the Four Seasons and the revamped Bar George, which is steeped in history like both Glenfiddich and Aston Martin Formula One Team. At both establishments, patrons will be able to enjoy a selection of signature Glenfiddich cocktails: The 1959 Spritz which marries Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Scotch whisky with pear liqueur, soda, simple syrup, bitters and lime juice; the Warehouse & Whisky Sour uses the same 15 Year Old Scotch whisky, with simple syrup, egg white, lemon juice, bitters and smoky whisky garnish; the Glenfiddich Old Fashioned offers a fresh take on a classic courtesy of 14 Year Old Scotch whisky with demarara syrup, peach bitters and a twist of orange.
“There’s a natural synergy between Glenfiddich and Aston Martin Formula One Team,” Johnson said, on the Friday of Grand Prix weekend, during a pairing dinner hosted at Marcus. “Both were born in Britain and share a commitment to craftsmanship, looking to forward through innovation while paying homage to the past.”
Joined by former driver and current Aston Martin Formula One Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa, Johnson raised her glass for a toast of Glenfiddich’s sumptuous 30 Year Old Scotch whisky. As an independent, family-owned distillery, Glenfiddich is still guided by founder William Grant’s methods and commitment to excellence. And, as such, Glenfiddich has remained steadfastly committed to its older whiskies — which necessarily involve loss to evaporation and the risk of something going wrong. But, in maintaining that commitment to creating liquid art, no matter the cost, Glenfiddich has fashioned a reputation for itself as, arguably, the foremost purveyor of decades-old whisky.
“Once you drive a Formula One car,” de la Rosa said, “your life is never the same.” Similarly, once you discover the beauty of aged whisky and the intricacies of nosing it properly — lest you get overwhelmed by the alcohol content — your life is never the same, either. Most people will never get to experience the first, but they can certainly experience the second.
On Saturday morning, Johnson, Glenfiddich, and Aston Martin Formula One Team welcomed us to Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a unique test on the Formula One calendar. “Montreal is one of my favourites,” de la Rosa said, while current driver and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso called it one of the most unique circuits in the world. “The braking is so hard here,” he said, “in the approach to turn one, the G-forces are so intense from braking and it’s so hot that the sweat flies forward into the inside of the visor.”
Being from Montreal, it’s easy to take Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the race for granted. I’ve done hundreds of laps around the track and grew up with the roar of the cars every summer. But seeing it come to life on race weekend — and getting a peak under the proverbial hood — are a reminder of how impressive it all is. Alonso explained that while he and Lance Stroll are the ones on television, there are 900 people who work to build and design the cars. Formula One’s guiding principle is that the cars must be built by each team, independently. They can share power units, but the rest is up to the team to skillfully craft, using precise handiwork and small adjustments to set themselves apart.
“There are so many similarities between building these cars and making whisky,” Johnson, the national brand ambassador said. “All of Glenfiddich’s whisky is fully crafted by hand and while there’s science involved, there’s also an element of instinct and skill,” knowing when to take a batch from cask to bottle or finish it in sherry or port cask.
There were less obvious similarities that became apparent over the weekend. Cars are broken down into their components after a race and then rebuilt at the next track. “A lot of barrels get shipped in individual planks to be rebuilt at the distillery,” Johnson explained. “But it’s the tires that really make me think of whisky barrels.” An Aston Martin Formula One Team employee had explained that the slick tires did away with tread (which, for us mortal drivers, is what provides traction) to increase the surface area on which the tire came into contact with the asphalt, offering more grip as the rubber heats up and becomes tacky. “With our whisky, we’re always trying to increase the surface area of the barrel so that more of the whisky comes into contact with it,” Johnson said, “which is why we char the inside, to open up the grain and increase the amount of area that the whisky touches to get those notes.”
And those notes — delicate, yet obviously present — are what have made Glenfiddich the most awarded distillery. But, like with Aston Martin Formula One Team, it’s what goes on behind the scenes that makes everything hum: a commitment to craftsmanship and the right way of doing things, all while trying to innovate.
That’s what Club 1959 is.
