From Richard Paterson the master blender;

Down at Silverstone for the F1 for a couple of days to carry out a few things, including a few tastings and catching up with some friends, but also to let the Force India drivers that we sponsor – Scotland’s very own Paul Di Resta (the only F1 Scot at the moment), Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi – receive a few bottles of their own whiskies, which I blended for them as part of the build-up to the weekend race.

Having done celebrity whiskies in the past, it was nice to get the chance to do these bottles for the drivers (Whyte & Mackay are sponsors of Force India) but I made sure they all got something a little bit different:

Paul Di Resta
I met Paul Di Resta at the press conference to announce his involvement with the team and I was lucky to spend some time with him afterwards in my sample room.

Having got to know him I have created a whisky that is a little shy at first on the nose but behind the shyness there is a full bodied explosion brought about by the highland malts I have used in this blend, giving it great strength and backbone.

This whisky has plenty of raw Scottish talent but also displays a sureness and maturity beyond its years. Strong and determined to make its mark on its own, this blend is a born winner.

Adrian Sutil
Adrian is clearly a strong willed and meticulous character who carefully plans his races to the last detail. However his skills as a concert pianist demonstrate another less well known side. That of the artist; creative, dramatic, passionate.

Instantly I was drawn to his bold character and for this blend I have selected whiskies as old as 25 years from the four distilling regions of Scotland.

Although this blend has a great complexity to it, a great harmony prevails with beautiful mellow flavours coming through to reward the palate.

Vitantonio Liuzzi
For Vitantonio I have created something which reflects his lively Italian personality and celebrates his first full season in the race seat. This blend is not one for sipping and savouring but is one for pure enjoyment and pleasure with the rest of the team.

Needing single malts with a little extra vibrancy, I called upon a great selection from Islay and Jura which were intricately woven together to allow the peat smoke to harmonise.

Patience and dedication was needed to bind and unite these malts together but the long awaited results are outstanding, proving that good things come to those who wait.

The team will be posting a few F1 items over the weekend here. If you’re into F1 this might get you going: it’s a look at the new-look Silverstone from the driving point of view.

Force India will also be quite active on Twitter.

And as this video from earlier in the year shows, there may be a secret ingredient in the fuel…

Click here to view the embedded video. http://tinyurl.com/2dl44oo

Good luck to the lads!

(WI apologizes for not being able to publish this prior to the race)