Brian Kinsman is more than Glenfiddich's master of malt; he's an engineer of modern luxury. After the launch of two limited-edition bottlings that celebrate Aston Martin Aramco's partnership with the iconic Scotch, we explore Brian's genius as a driving force in the world of whisky, drawing natural comparisons with another master of his craft: Adrian Newey.
In the cool hush of Glenfiddich's warehouses, Malt Master Brian Kinsman tilts a glass to the light the way an engineer studies the curve of a wind tunnel model. To the untrained eye, it's amber liquid in crystal. To him, it's geometry, balance, airflow. Every note of pear, oak, and spice is as calculated as a setup tweak on an F1 car, and no whisky leaves Dufftown without passing under his nose. A visionary and an innovator, Brian's approach to whisky-making mirrors the genius of Formula One's foremost designer, Aston Martin Aramco Managing Technical Partner Adrian Newey. Just as Adrian engineers speed with aerodynamics, Brian engineers flavour – designing drams that aren't just sipped, but savoured.
Brian shrugs off the comparison at first. "I wouldn't call myself a genius," he says with the measured modesty of a man who knows genius is best demonstrated, not declared. Yet as he begins to describe how he constructs a whisky – balancing the influence of wood, the patience of age, the invisible hand of air and climate – the analogy sharpens into focus. Where Adrian sees lines of airflow, Brian sees lines of flavour. Both design with an architect's clarity, seeing the end result long before anyone else can.
"It starts with the bigger picture," says Brian. "You must always think contextually of the whole Glenfiddich range. Every new expression is crafted within the world of Glenfiddich – it has to fit into our flavour map and carry the DNA of the distillery. You could make a really amazing whisky, but if it doesn't feel like a Glenfiddich, it's not right."
And that distinctive Glenfiddich character? "There's a lovely green leafy note," explains Brian. "When I walk past the fermentation room, there's a smell that you intuitively know feels right. It's got that lovely leafiness, and it permeates the distillery. Through our core expressions – the 12, 18, and 30 – that leafiness evolves from fresh fruits to baked fruits to dried fruits. Everything we do hangs off that DNA."
Brian talks like an engineer but thinks like an artist. "We spend a disproportionate amount of time on the beginning of the process," he continues. "When we first distil, it won't go into a bottle for at least 12 years, and it has to be absolutely perfect from the start. Get the distillation and the cask right, and a big part of the job is done."
Precision under pressure
In Formula One, myriad variables must align for a car to perform at its peak. For Brian, the margin for error is equally fine, with no Glenfiddich whisky leaving Dufftown without his approval. "Thankfully, we've got time to make sure it's right," he says with a laugh. "We'll re-cask, put it into marrying tuns (tall oak barrels), and sample until it's perfect.
"But you always want people to like what you've made. Every time a new whisky gets poured at an event, you do have that little moment holding your breath thinking, 'God, I hope everybody likes this.' There's a responsibility; once it's out there, it needs to be good."
That perfectionism is quietly relentless. "We put in marrying time," he explains. "We want every batch to be perfect, but they won't always be absolutely bang on. The marrying tuns, these 2,000-litre oak vessels, let the component parts meld together and iron out inconsistencies. It's like a big buffer, removing those tiny imperfections."
There's a feel for the drink, for the aroma – you just know when things are right.
Innovation in tradition
Adrian is a firm believer that constraints fuel creativity, and Brian also subscribes to this school of thought, pushing whisky into new eras while remaining true to its DNA and remaining cognisant of every aspect of its craft. "Tight guidelines generate innovation," he says. "Scotch is highly regulated. We only have three raw materials: water, yeast, and barley. It must be matured in oak casks from traditional sources. People sometimes say it constrains innovation, but actually, it makes it better because it forces you to think more creatively. You stretch your imagination."
He tells the story of Glenfiddich's solera process – a 'living vat' filled in 1998 that has never been emptied. "We only ever take half away for bottling, then fill it back up. Every bottle of Glenfiddich 15-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky ever made has gone through that vat – and technically, there are still molecules of the very first batch in there. It's complex, but the result is an amazingly consistent whisky. It pushes you to create something better."
That same mindset drives Glenfiddich's experimental finishes and collaborations, and its partnership with Aston Martin Aramco is only shaping the creative process further. "The excitement around the distillery is huge," says Brian. "We've never done anything on this scale before, and it's made us think harder about our brand and our way of making whisky.
"I had a tour of the AMR Technology Campus and was hugely impressed by how hands-on everything was. I thought most of it would be automated, but seeing the craft and the people physically building the car was fascinating. It's very similar to how we work, and it made us reflect on what we do."
The limited-edition 16- and 19-Year-Old bottlings born from the partnership are, in Brian's words, "A bit of yin and yang. We took the building blocks of our core whisky but accentuated all the best bits of Glenfiddich, using American oak for the 16 and European oak for the 19, to shine a light on how they contrast."
The art and the science
Ask Brian if whisky-making is an art or a science, and he answers without hesitation. "Different parts of the process are different," he says. "At the distillery, it's more of a science because engineering can help you a lot.
"But when it comes to sense, to taste, that's absolutely more of an art. There's a feel for the drink, for the aroma – you just know when things are right. We're always led by sense because it's what people experience."
That "feel" isn't mystical, he insists – it's earned. "It's just hard work and practice. I've been doing this for 28 years, and I can’t imagine how many samples I've tried. It becomes second nature. You get in tune with your distilleries. It doesn't make me some kind of sensory expert; it's just about noticing differences and matching them to what we're trying to achieve."
Theoretically, you could make a mistake and not know it for 12 years, so you have to be on it all the time.
The team behind the nose
Like Adrian, Brian can't do it alone; he has a team of highly skilled and talented people behind him. "There's Kelsey McKechnie, our Balvenie Malt Master, and Eilidh Muir, our Whisky Blender," he says. "The three of us do the whisky creation, but it cascades out: distillery teams pulling casks, marketing teams designing bottles. From a little sample bottle that Kelsey, Eilidh and I create, hundreds of people turn it into something on the shelf."
He pauses. "There's a lot of admin – moving casks in the stock database, sending emails – but you've got to make sure the spirit is right and the cask quality is there. We tend to work on a 30- to 40-year time horizon, so you've got to be confident that what you're laying down today will still be there long after you're gone. That's the long game. Theoretically, you could make a mistake and not know it for 12 years, so you have to be on it all the time."
Creating for the future
Adrian is always looking ahead: having one eye on the future is a core part of an F1 designer's job description. Case in point, Adrian joined the team in March – before the 2025 season had even started – but he's been solely focused on designing Aston Martin Aramco's 2026 challenger.
Brian is no different, peering into a crystal ball, designing whiskies that will resonate with a new generation of connoisseurs – drinkers who may not yet be of legal drinking age at the point of casking. "It's tough to predict," he admits. "It's partly because of the time lag. But one of our principles is simple: keep the quality high. Some markets fade, others grow – but if the whisky's good, people come back.
"We have to keep evolving. Glenfiddich played a major role in creating the Single Malt category in the '60s, and for 60 years, we've had to keep reinventing ourselves. New variants, new expressions, changing packaging – all while keeping the quality consistently high. That's the beginning and end of everything we do."
I love the uncontrollable part of whisky maturation. That's where the magic is.
If you ask Brian to imagine the whisky equivalent of the perfect race car, he grins. "We've not done that yet! Every so often, you open a cask and think, 'Wow, where did that come from?' You suddenly get a cinnamon or honey note, or just an exceptional fruitiness. It's nature doing its thing, it's what was in the cask before, it's the microclimate in the warehouse – it's these natural variables.
"I spend most of my time trying to engineer that out for consistency – but when you find those little nuggets, it's amazing. We tend to keep them and then maybe release them as single casks in the future. I love the uncontrollable part of whisky maturation. That's where the magic is."
Talk of the future naturally moves to the partnership between Aston Martin Aramco and Glenfiddich, and Brian cannot hide his excitement for how it's coming to life. Exclusive tastings of a Glenfiddich single malt drawn from a rare 1959 cask – in homage to the year Aston Martin made its F1 debut – at The Warehouse Hotel on the eve of the Singapore Grand Prix; a takeover of New York's iconic Grand Central Station to celebrate the launch of Glenfiddich's 16-Year-Old, where the limited-edition bottling was poured – and served – beside an Aston Martin Aramco F1 car; and a Paddock After Dark experience that gave I / AM members a taste of the paddock – and Glenfiddich – at The Pershing in Austin. The iconic partnership is turning heads worldwide.
"You see the Glenfiddich logo on the F1 car racing around the world, and it feels like you're part of something bigger," says Brian. "It inspires us to think about what we're going to do next. The best bit is, we're only just getting started."
Timeless apart. Iconic together. Discover more about the Aston Martin Aramco and Glenfiddich partnership, here.
Skilfully crafted. Enjoy responsibly. Never drink and drive.
Timeless apart. Iconic together.Timeless apart. Iconic together.
Related content
Iconic together in Austin: Paddock After Dark brings I / AM and Glenfiddich to The Pershing
Read more
Craftsmanship and instinct collide in New York with Aston Martin Aramco and Glenfiddich
Read more
Bringing The Soundcheck to Zandvoort with Glenfiddich and Andrew Cushin
Read more
Where craft meets instinct: Glenfiddich unveils limited-edition bottlings in collaboration with Aston Martin Aramco
Read more
Inside Glenfiddich's Aston Martin Aramco-themed Shanghai takeover
Read more
65 years in the making: A look inside the launch of our partnership with Glenfiddich
Read more
Aston Martin Aramco and Glenfiddich® unveil multi-year global partnership at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Read more
Sean Harrington and Amy Mansell explain how ELEMIS is breaking new ground with Aston Martin Aramco
Read more
Caroline Smith reveals why Regent Seven Seas Cruises' partnership with an F1 team is driving its appeal to a new audience
Read moreAmplify your fan experience
From exclusive collabs to once-in-a-lifetime prizes, I / AM DROPS is a new series of unique and ultra-limited moments and fan experiences.
Sign up for I / AM or sign in to unlock.
