Formula 1 Through a Glenfiddich x Aston Martin Lens
What it’s like to experience the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend through whisky-colored glasses
Of the myriad ways to take in a Formula 1 race, from public bleachers to five-figure Paddock Club passes, taking in the Vegas Grand Prix through Glenfiddich’s partnership with Aston Martin brings a singular perspective to the race that has been bringing speed back to Sin City since 2023.
Just as there’s no venue in the world quite like Las Vegas, there’s no stop along the 24-race F1 season that offers quite as many viewing options. Along the 3.8-mile course, sprawling hotels and trackside setups offer unique vantage points of the drive route that can hit speeds upward of 220-mph.
The place I rest my head for the weekend is the Fontainebleau Hotel, but the main venue for race activities is the Ocean Prime Restaurant, whose outdoor area reveals views of the approach to corners 15 and 16, as well as the exit toward corner 17. As this isn’t my host’s first rodeo (the sponsorship launched last year with a single malt distilled in 1959, the year of Aston Martin’s first Grand Prix race), we schedule ample time for getting around since the race shuts down many surrounding roads for the weekend.
Formula 1 sponsorships mean numerous hotel lobbies and red carpets dressed in full-scale F1 car mockups, a fun way to bring a sense of occasion to race weekend. The Glenfiddich viewing area at Ocean Prime offers the usual creature comforts of a high-end seafood restaurant—a dazzling seafood bar of oysters, shrimp, lobster and endless caviar served in a haze of liquid nitrogen, as well as ubiquitous servers offering custom cocktails. But the real fascination comes from Glenfiddich’s indoor tasting bar, where brand ambassador Sebastien Derbomez is serving wee drams of honey-colored elixirs.
Derbomez knows his away around the distillery’s history and explains the ins and outs of Glenfiddich and Aston Martin limited-edition 16-year single malt. Aged in American Oak, its flavor profile is said to exude whiffs of maple syrup, caramelized ginger and Chantilly cream. It’s eminently drinkable and appealingly sweet, and it goes down pleasantly with the smooth finish you’d expect from a respectable whisky. The profile is approved by master distiller Brian Kinsman, and the Aston Martin-branded bottle and fetching green packaging retails for $75.
It wouldn’t be a tasting without some alternatives, so after sipping the limited-edition 16-year we’re presented with something a bit more special: a 49-year-old whisky sourced from a single cask that was opened when the partnership launched last year. The 1976 single malt starts innocently enough with an almost imperceptible flavor ramp up at first sip but unfolds into a million different vibrant tonalities. The flavors are complex and challenging to the palate, offering a fascinating taste experience that speaks to the outer edges of whisky distilling and aging. With only 50 bottles ever produced from the cask, it’s also an incredibly rare opportunity to sample such an outlier spirit. After savoring a sample, I give it another go with a few drops of water. The splash opens it up and softens the flavor profile significantly, bringing the tantalizing invitation for more.
The feeling in the VIP reception is loose and fun during qualifying, despite the light mist of precipitation which produces a string of crashes and mishaps along the rain-soaked circuit. But when it’s go time on race night, the whisky-sipping fans seem less concerned about food and beverage and more intently focused on rooting for their favorites—the machine-like Verstappen, the likable but flawed Norris, the fallen-from-grace Hamilton. As fate would have it, Verstappen emerged victorious while McLaren’s Norris and Piastri were later disqualified in dramatic fashion for excessive wear due to a slightly-out-of-spec skid plate. You wouldn’t know it from the official afterparty at the Wynn’s 1920s-themed Delihah nightclub, where everyone from Lewis Hamilton, Orlando Bloom and Travis Scott hip-hopped and rocked to DJ Pee Wee (Anderson .Paak) and John Mayer.
For me, a longtime fan of the sport who has been fortunate enough to watch races from all around the world, experiencing F1 through the lens of Glenfiddich put an exclamation mark on the point that this freewheeling city is unlike any other on the planet.
What are your thoughts?