Space Gets Crafty With Craft Beer Cask

Whisky brand Glenfiddich and London agency Space dives into the extremes of the human mind in a global TV ad promoting The IPA Experiment. The first in the brand’s Experimental series, the spot was directed by Ben Tricklebank through Academy Films and will air in Europe, Asia and the US and debut in the UK during Sky Atlantic’s Westworld. 

The mind is an amazing thing, it can make us fall in love, destroy the environment, play chess, go surfing and even, on a good day, help us to levitate in the forest in a floaty dress. Over a series of beautifully crafted images of brains fizzing with splendid ideas and humans achieving cool things, a voiceover lists the mind's wonders  – how it gives us logic and irrationality, creativity and curiosity and makes us non-binary (unless one drinks an entire bottle of whisky before supper, in which case one’s vision can get a bit binary).

The point of these musings on the mind is to celebrate the spirit of experiment that has led Glenfiddich to season their traditional whisky casks in a non-traditional way – collaborating with a local Speyside craft brewer, Malt Master Brian Kinsman created an IPA craft beer to imbue the oak casks used to finish off Glenfiddich with extra hoppy notes. The experiment resulted in the first single malt whisky ever finished in craft IPA casks. 

Space has already produced an experimental campaign for the brand; back in June it developed a VR experience called Journey into the Mind of the Malt Master (see below), which created a virtual visit to a Glenfiddich distillery using an ambitious mixture of techniques including CGI, live action and 360-drone footage.