William Grant & Sons has unveiled Glenfiddich 28 Years Old, a limited-edition single malt Scotch whisky developed in partnership with famed UK luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin.
The release will be launched through predominantly travel retail distribution, complemented by the US domestic market, planned from January 2027.
It will be available through leading airport stores globally, alongside selected domestic retailer. Bottled at 43.7% ABV, Glenfiddich 28 Years Old carries a recommended retail price of £650 (US$875), subject to regional variations.
The launch will be supported by a programme across Glenfiddich’s shop-in-shops and other key airport locations, combining product displays, brand ambassador engagement and selected tasting experiences.
Featured locations will include Hong Kong, Heathrow, Shanghai, Singapore Changi, New York JFK, Beijing, Taiwan, Sydney, Frankfurt and Incheon airports.
Created by William Grant & Sons Malt Master Brian Kinsman, the whisky combines American and European oak maturation, with a distinctive virgin American oak influence.
The packaging was developed with Aston Martin’s design team. It combines the brand’s Podium Green with copper finishes and Glenfiddich’s stag emblem.
Flowing surface patterns and layered detailing feature in the packaging, inspired by Aston Martin’s automotive design language and the whisky’s maturation journey.
One component spent 14 years in standard American oak before a further 14 years in virgin American oak, contributing spice, vanilla sweetness and tropical notes.
Another spent around eight years in refill wood followed by 20 years in European oak Oloroso sherry-seasoned hogsheads, adding texture, depth and sherried character. Traditional ex-bourbon casks contribute Glenfiddich’s signature orchard fruit notes.
The maturation has resulted in more pronounced cask influences while preserving the distillery’s character.
The collaboration centres on the brands’ respective approaches to craftsmanship, innovation and maintaining a recognisable identity as their products evolve.
Travel retail will be integral in communicating that story, supported by direct training from Kinsman for Glenfiddich’s Brand Ambassadors.
“Glenfiddich 28 Years Old represents an exciting addition to the global travel retail whisky category, bringing together exceptional age, innovation and the distinctive design credentials of two iconic British brands,” said William Grant & Sons Global Travel Retail Managing Director Rufus Parkinson.
“While the expression will also be available in the US domestic market, its availability outside the US is exclusive to global travel retail, giving the channel a particularly important role in bringing this release to consumers around the world. It is an excellent example of how distinctive, premium innovations can create excitement, engage travellers and deliver a compelling proposition for the sector.”
Aston Martin Director of Brand Diversification Stefano Saporetti added: “This special edition celebrates the values that unite Aston Martin and Glenfiddich: craftsmanship, creativity and continual refinement. The result is a beautifully crafted collector’s piece that reflects the heritage, ambition and enduring character of both brands.”
William Grant & Sons Malt Master Brian Kinsman sat down with The Moodie Davitt Report Brands Director Hannah Tan to discuss the cask selection behind the release, the shared principles informing the partnership and the opportunities for discovery in travel retail.
The Moodie Davitt Report: How does the Glenfiddich 28 Year Old Aston Martin edition emphasise both house’s ‘perpetual motion’ ethos?
Brian Kinsman: For Glenfiddich 28 Years Old, I wanted to bring Glenfiddich and Aston Martin’s philosophy of perpetual motion to life. Working with highly active casks gave me the opportunity to explore how different layers of oak influence could come together, while preserving the vibrant fruit notes synonymous with Glenfiddich.
Drawing on my understanding of Aston Martin’s character and design ethos, the result is a single malt that reflects our shared pursuit of refinement, while remaining unmistakably rooted in Glenfiddich’s 139-year legacy of whisky making and the expertise passed down through generations of Malt Masters.
Glenfiddich has always embraced cask experimentation. How does this 28 Year Old expression push those boundaries?
Probably through how bold it is. It’s really important to me, the business and the distillery that the whisky is recognisable as Glenfiddich. We want the distillery character to shine through.
With this one, we’re trying to take it to the edge. It’s unmistakably Glenfiddich, but bigger and richer.
There are three distinct parts. At the centre is a traditional Glenfiddich component: European oak and American oak in a fairly typical marriage.
Then there’s a really intense virgin American oak component. It’s big, bold and very vanilla-forward, with an almost tropical character. There’s a creamy, vanilla custard quality that’s really indulgent.
The third pillar is European oak hogsheads. That whisky spent around eight years in refill wood and 20 years in European oak sherry hogsheads, contributing mouthfeel, texture, tannin and quite a complex flavour.
I’ve blended those elements to give us a traditional Glenfiddich backbone, vanilla and toffee notes, and depth and complexity.
It’s all about striking a balance. Ideally, the finished whisky should be greater than the sum of those three pillars because you’re trying to get the best from each one.
How did Glenfiddich’s partnership with Aston Martin influence your approach to the whisky?
I spent time on a call with the design team, talking about the philosophy behind how I make whisky and how they design a car.
When you’re looking after a brand such as Aston Martin, with its rich history of iconic designs, how do you preserve that legacy? Which elements stay, and which can you play with?
For Glenfiddich, it comes back to what defines us and how we maintain our quality. I could find a cask that would blow your socks off, but if it doesn’t fit our principles, it’s almost no use.
It’s about staying true to our principles when making whisky and understanding how they stay true to theirs when building cars. Although the industries are very different, the approach is remarkably similar.
What are the shared values at the heart of that approach?
Attention to detail, exacting standards and never compromising on quality.
When we lay whisky down this year, we need to know that in 28 years it will deliver what we want. There’s no way to do that if you’ve compromised somewhere.
You might think you can skip a small step or change the running of the distillery slightly and it will be fine. But how do you know it will be fine in 28 years? You could end up with 20 years’ worth of stock that isn’t right.
We’re obsessive about ensuring we haven’t compromised and that everything is exactly as we want it to be. With a brand such as Aston Martin, where each piece is so valuable, they’re clearly not compromising either. There’s a shared dedication to quality.
Brand Ambassadors will play an important role in communicating the story to travellers. How do you prepare them?
I work directly with our Brand Ambassadors to bring the stories of our whiskies to life. We’ll have a podcast-style conversation for around an hour and cover everything, including all the technical questions someone might ask. It’s important to have that direct connection to me so they can convey that story to travellers in an effective way.
Alongside prestige releases such as this, how important is it to offer more accessible expressions in travel retail?
It is hugely important to give consumers great options across the price ladder. For example, we’ve just refreshed our travel retail offering for Glenfiddich. For example, we have reintroduced the 12 Year Old and a 15 Year Old sherry cask expression We’ve also done a port cask finish for the first time in Glenfiddich history.
Alongside that, it’s brilliant to bring out something like this 28 Year Old in relatively small quantities, but with global availability and the opportunity for people to buy it.
Where do you see the next opportunities for cask exploration and creativity?
I have a lot of freedom to experiment. That’s partly why we can put together a 28 Year Old expression containing whisky that has spent 20 years finishing in sherry wood and 14 years finishing in virgin oak.
I’m very confident we have a wide range of possibilities. It’s then about responding to opportunities as they arise.
There are opportunities for one-off releases like this. Then there are expressions such as the port cask finish. For many years, we didn’t do that for Glenfiddich because we didn’t have a robust enough supply chain for port casks.
There will definitely be more limited editions because we have both the opportunity and the desire to create them. We’ll also see how the core range develops.
Both are interesting to develop. With one, you create it, it’s done and everyone enjoys it. With the other, you have to deliver that same consistency and quality year after year.
Which presents the greater challenge: creating a memorable limited edition or maintaining a permanent expression?
Delivering it year after year, because of the consistency required.
If a customer loves the first bottle you buy and purchase another 12 months later, it has to be the same. Maintaining that consistency accounts for the vast majority of our work.
Why is Glenfiddich 28 Years Old particularly suited to travel retail?
Travel retail plays brilliantly into the launch because you have time, and consumers are often willing to stop and engage.
If we train our ambassadors well and communicate the story through conversations with people such as yourself, we have a powerful combination: a consumer with time who is interested in the backstory and the packaging.
There are pockets of other retail that offer this, but having that amount of time with people on a global scale is phenomenal. ✈
