When two brands with more than a century of history each decide to deepen a partnership, the story writes itself. Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky, and the Aston Martin Formula One™ Team are entering their second year together with a clear statement of intent: a campaign called BEYOND, launching just as the Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix du Canada returns to Montreal in May 2026.
The Montreal race is a home weekend in the truest sense. The timing is not accidental has Canada is central to this partnership. Lance Stroll, one of the team’s two drivers alongside double World Champion Fernando Alonso, is Canadian. And it was here, at Bar George, that Glenfiddich and Aston Martin Formula One™ Team chose to open the season with an evening that set the tone for everything ahead.
Chef Kevin Ramasawmy served four courses, each paired with a Glenfiddich expression: the 14, 15, 16, and 18 year old. Team ambassador and former Formula One driver Pedro de la Rosa joined as guest of honour, speaking about his long relationship with Montreal, his passion for competition, and a curiosity about life that has never left him. Fans had been waiting for him at the airport since Tuesday, which was for him something that could only in Montreal ( or Japan! ).
Heritage That Earns Its Place
Glenfiddich was founded in 1887 by William Grant in Dufftown, in the Scottish Highlands. Grant built the distillery largely by hand alongside his family, on a site chosen specifically for its access to the Robbie Dhu spring. That water source still feeds the distillery today. More than 130 years later, the operation remains family-owned, now guided by the fifth generation of the Grant-Gordon family, one of the few distilleries of its scale anywhere in the world to hold that distinction.
The whisky is produced using the same traditional techniques Grant established from the beginning. The copper pot stills are maintained and replaced to the exact original design when they wear out. A house yeast strain developed over generations contributes a flavour profile that cannot be replicated elsewhere. These are not marketing details. They are the reason the liquid tastes the way it does, and the reason consistency across decades is possible at all.
But Glenfiddich’s history is not only about preservation. The brand was among the first to take single malt Scotch beyond Scotland, pushing the category into international markets at a time when blended whisky owned the global conversation. That decision, made before the market had signalled any appetite for it, changed an entire industry. Single malt Scotch is now one of the most sought-after spirit categories in the world. Glenfiddich helped build that from the ground up, and has spent every decade since adding to what it started, through new expressions, new ageing techniques, and a willingness to challenge what the category can be.
The brand’s history of innovation runs just as deep. Glenfiddich was among the first to take single malt Scotch beyond Scotland, introducing the category to international markets at a time when blended whisky dominated the conversation. That willingness to go first, to believe in something before the market caught up, is part of what makes the BEYOND campaign feel earned rather than borrowed.
Aston Martin carries a parallel story. Founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, the marque took its name from the Aston Hill Climb, where early racing success helped define what the brand would stand for. Performance was never incidental to Aston Martin. It was the founding logic.
The brand claimed outright victory at Le Mans in 1959, one of the most demanding and prestigious events in all of motorsport. Decades followed. Road cars continued to carry the DNA forward: the DB series, the Vantage, the Vanquish, the DBX707, the Valkyrie hypercar, each one pushing further into what a British luxury performance car can be, each one carrying the design language and engineering ambition the founders established more than a century ago.
The return to Formula One in 2021 under Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll was a serious undertaking, built for the long term. The AMR Technology Campus in Silverstone opened in 2023, a facility conceived with sustainable design principles and infrastructure that positions the team for decades of competition. The team’s wind tunnel became operational in 2025, delivering aerodynamic development capabilities that most teams spend years working toward and that will directly shape the cars competing through this season and beyond.
On the driver side, the lineup reflects the team’s ambition clearly. Fernando Alonso is a two-time World Champion whose racecraft and technical intelligence remain among the sharpest on the grid. Lance Stroll brings pace, experience, and a direct connection to the Canadian market that gives the Grand Prix du Canada a personal dimension few other race weekends carry. Test and Reserve Drivers Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne provide depth and continuity across the program. Team Ambassador Pedro de la Rosa, a man with decades of experience at the very highest level of the sport, adds a perspective that is difficult to quantify and impossible to manufacture.
Set within the historic Mount Stephen Club in the heart of Montreal, Bar George carries the same quality of heritage and quiet refinement that defined the evening Glenfiddich and Aston Martin Formula One™ Team hosted there.
Chef Kevin Ramasawmy built a four-course menu that moved with deliberate intention. Each course arrived alongside its paired Glenfiddich expression, and the progression across the table told a story. The 14 Year Old is bright and fruit-forward, driven by fresh oak and orchard notes that make it the most immediately approachable of the four. The 15 Year Old is distinctive in its production: distilled from every cask in the warehouse before bottling, producing a whisky of unusual complexity. The 16 Year Old brings warmth and spice, a richer character that settles differently on the palate. The 18 Year Old is where time makes its argument most clearly, a deep, layered expression that carries decades of craft in every glass.
What BEYOND Means
The campaign takes its name from a shared philosophy. For Glenfiddich and Aston Martin Formula One™ Team, success has never been treated as an endpoint. Each milestone, whether a new whisky expression, a points finish, or a facility that redefines what a Formula One team can be, becomes the foundation for what comes next.
BEYOND will unfold across the 2026 race season through digital films, striking key visuals, and premium media placements worldwide. The creative work explores the tensions both brands navigate daily: heritage against innovation, precision against instinct, the slow craft of ageing spirit against the split-second decisions of a race weekend. Executed at scale, the campaign is designed to reach Scotch and motorsport enthusiasts across Canada and beyond.
As Glenfiddich’s Canadian National Brand Ambassador Jamie Johnson put it: “We look forward to Canadians experiencing BEYOND with new and exciting experiences on and off the track throughout the 2026 race season.”
A Season to Watch
The opening evening in Montreal was a declaration of what this partnership is becoming. Driven by a shared pursuit of excellence, innovation, and craftsmanship, Glenfiddich and Aston Martin used the occasion to set a standard for everything that follows, and to extend genuine thanks to every guest who was part of it.
The 2026 season has already started, and the collaboration is only accelerating!
Photo Credits: Edmond Chung Photography
