The phrase “Hollywood stuff” gets thrown around a lot in the Boss Hunting office, but in my many years doing the hard work required for the best job in the world, I’d never seen an execution quite like Patrón Tequila’s Formula 1 takeover.
And that’s saying something, given we’ve been to the Australian Grand Prix every year in recent memory.
On Qualifying Saturday, fifteen lucky members of the local Patrón Tequila familia assembled at Sydney’s Bar Patrón for Rolls-Royce transfers to the tarmac where a Dassault Falcon 900 waited patiently for its guests. We stepped aboard Patrón Air to find a hostess tossing freshly made pineapple margaritas in a surprisingly spacious cabin, completely decked out with subtle Patrón-branded comforts at every turn.
The captain’s briefing was just that – brief – and the takeoff was equally as turbo as we rocketed to 38,000 feet with drinks in hand so as not to spill them during our steep angle of attack out of Bankstown, en route to Essendon.
The following scenes are what could only be described as one of the all-time scenes from HBO’s Entourage. Upon touchdown in Melbourne, a fleet of four Rolls-Royce motorcars, championed by a new Phantom, waited patiently for us on the tarmac in the shadow of a Bombardier Global Express. Truly Hollywood stuff.
Saturday evening was a classy affair at the private dining room beneath the coveted South Yarra restaurant, Matilda. Hosted by Patrón’s brand ambassador, Alex Godfrey, we were taken through a scrummy culinary rotation of the chef’s standout dishes paired with the Patrón trio of Silver, Reposado and Añejo tequilas.
True to the core of Patrón’s ethos is craftsmanship – from the team of passionate agave harvesters in Jalisco to the hand-blown bottles that find themselves on every back bar worth its grain of salt. It was clear from day one’s activities in Melbourne that no stone was left unturned in the curation of this weekend – from the guest list to the amenities – despite being 12,000 kilometres from the brand’s HQ in Mexico.
The team had even delivered each guest a personalised cabin bag from Aidan with custom boarding passes. I suppose there’s no point going as big as a private jet with exclusive Grand Prix access if the little touches miss the mark, and this was undoubtedly where Patrón excelled above all the rest.
Race day called for a kick-off brunch unrivalled in the city of Melbourne on the morning of April 2nd. Try a multi-million dollar SoCal-style estate on the fringes of the city with a mariachi band, traditional Mayan blessing ceremony, food that would have any Mexican cuisine aficionado salivating, and Patrón palomas to whet the palate.
And this was all before the lights had even gone out at Albert Park. As the official spirits partner of the Formula 1 Paddock Club and sponsor of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, each day of GP weekend Patrón Tequila hosted over 200 guests in the most coveted suite above pitlane. Not a single person’s margarita glass was dry, nor did the energy ever dip below our expectations when hosted by Patrón – contagiously electric.
A big thanks to Patrón Tequila, longtime supporters of Boss Hunting, for their exceptional hospitality.
Killer shots courtesy of @judecohen.
