The evening unfolded over a multi-course feast prepared by Kampachi (All photos: Low Yen Yeing/The Edge)
High-octane mechanics and decades of Scottish patience do not usually share a table, but as the Grand Prix season gathered pace in the city, Glenfiddich and the Aston Martin Formula One Team proved they make surprisingly good bedfellows. Bringing a little of the paddock’s polish to the Aston Martin Kuala Lumpur showroom on Jalan Pinang, The Edge hosted an intimate dinner where guests took a closer look at a partnership between two icons from vastly different worlds, yet united by a shared preoccupation with uncompromising performance and technical finesse.
Now in its second year, the meeting of minds has yielded the 16 Year Old Limited-Edition Release No 2 for the current F1 season. Built around the distillery’s fruit-led house style, it draws character from first-fill bourbon barrels, Port pipes, Oloroso sherry and wine casks, before a final influence from Fino sherry butts. The result is a finely tuned dram: silky and complex, with rich stewed fruit and floral top notes giving way to creamy toffee and a lingering trace of dry oak.
Rather than simply putting the bottles on display, however, the evening unfolded over a multi-course feast prepared by Kampachi, with a succession of Glenfiddich expressions threaded through the menu. The crowd was led through tastings of the 21 Year Old Gran Reserva, 23 Year Old Grand Cru and 26 Year Old Grande Couronne, each matched to dishes — including Hokkaido scallops, Omi A5 wagyu Rossini, simmered duck and a raindrop jelly dessert — that drew out different facets of the whiskies. The experience offered a leisurely survey of the brand’s aged portfolio, shifting from richer, more opulent notes to finer, more delicate nuances as the pairings progressed.
body_photo_46.png
The 16 Year Old may have been the event’s headline pour, but the real showstopper sat at the far end of the spectrum: the Glenfiddich 1976 x Aston Martin. Hand-selected by malt master Brian Kinsman, the extraordinary spirit spent nearly five decades maturing out of sight. First laid down in a refill sherry butt, it was later transferred to a bespoke 100-litre European oak sherry cask crafted by the distillery’s own coopers — a 48-year exercise in measured refinement that produced an unmistakable intensity of red berries, buttery pastry, stewed fruits, toasted spice and dry oak. With a worldwide release of just 50, this liquid treasure boasting a whisper-soft, elegant finish is housed in a handcrafted oak case complete with leather detailing and a wooden key.
The night’s automotive credentials were never far from view. A sleek DB12 stood guard near the entrance — a magnetic distraction between courses — while a curated selection of Breitling timepieces rounded out this universe of engineered speed. Leading the horological line-up was the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 (the watchmaker’s inaugural collaboration with the British racing outfit), sporting a feather-light titanium case, woven carbon-fibre dial as well as vibrant flashes of Racing Green and lime channelling the team’s visual codes.
The interplay of craft was the gathering’s real pleasure as three disparate disciplines explored their relationships with time: chasing fractions of a second, measuring its passage with precision and letting years accumulate into remarkable depth.
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43
This article first appeared on Oct 5, 2025 in The Edge Malaysia.
