ALDI AND LIDL SMASHING SPEYSIDE AND ISLAY WHISKIES

 GERMAN SUPERMARKET GIANT LIDL’S AGED EXPRESSIONS

Speyside single malts are single malt Scotch whiskies distilled in Strathspey, the area around the River Spey in Moray and Badenoch and Strathspey, in northeastern Scotland. Strathspey has the greatest number of distilleries of any of the whisky producing areas of Scotland. Dufftown alone has six working distilleries with an annual capacity in excess of 40 million litres of spirit. Roughly 50 percent of Scotland's whisky is made here in the approximately 50 distilleries located in this region.

This dry, warm, region is a natural for whisky distillers because it is close to barley farms, contains the River Spey and is close to the Atlantic port of Garmouth. The water in the area is said to have "the lowest level of dissolved minerals" of any area in Scotland, and that may affect the taste of its whiskies. Another report explains that "quartzite at the source keeps high levels of minerals from mixing with the water".

The region's whiskies have a fruity nature "ranging from ripe pears to sultanas" and some exhibit "sweet, caramel and fruity notes". The use of peat is not common here, so many of the whiskies are not "smoky"; typically, most Speyside whisky is fruity, sweet, and nutty, featuring notes of apple, honey, vanilla, and spice.

There’s no distillery – or even place – by the name of Ben Bracken. It’s just a concoction of Gaelic sounding words the marketing department at Lidl probably picked up from a dictionary bought in Scotland. Bracken, as it happens, is an English word for a fern commonly found across much of the Scottish landscape whilst Ben is from the Gaelic Beinn, for Mountain. There are numerous other expressions in the 20+ year range, from the Highlands, Speyside and Islay. One Highlander is aged at a Methusalahian 40 years!

BEN BRACKEN 28 YEARS OLD SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALT 40% ABV

NOSE: Fresh and expressive: honey, newly mown hay and the barn in which it will later be stored. Some pungent floral aromas of honeysuckle and jasmine, then wheaty notes with the unmistakable edge of age. With water, somebody’s been jumping around in the haybarn, sending seeds and dust flying. Water also conjures fruit, in the form of bright tangerine notes.

PALATE: The cereal notes come first, merging gently into animal feed and a farmyardy character. There’s a little curry spice to perk things up and, once you add water, more of that bright tangerine flavour and then the ripe tang of laced marmalade. Then honey and a little Madagascan vanilla.

FINISH: The heady hedgerow aromas round things off nicely.

This 28 YO was released in November 2015 as part of the Lidl Christmas offering. Typically, it’s from an undisclosed Speyside distillery and apart from the bottling strength of 40%, any other details are pretty scarce. One of the stars of the show for Lidl this year. There’s weight, there’s subtlety, there’s complexity and there’s outright pleasure. Simply beautiful. Dreams of a hayloft, late summer, languorous heat, with a bee buzzing past.

BEN BRACKEN 23 YEAR OLD SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALT WHISKY 40% ABV 

I wouldn’t normally spend £40 on a bottle of whisky, but the chance to buy a

23 year old whisky for a lot less than a 23 year old normally costs was too good a deal to miss. My local Lidl had a few bottles, so I purchased one, I had been impressed with one of their blends I had bought last year, and Lidl and Aldi have a reputation for good value for money spirits. The good news is, it’s nice. I’ll be honest, it’s not mind blowingly amazing, but I guess I expected too much. I think I got excited by it being a 23 year old whisky, at a bargain price, so I was expecting it to be leaps and bounds better than my normal whisky drinks, but instead, I should have been looking at it, as a £40 whisky, which is 23 years old.

It’s nicer than most of the other whiskies I’ve reviewed, but it costs a bit more than most of them, however it’s not as nice as the Yamazaki, or the 12year old Balvenie Triple Cask I tried a while ago, but it costs less than both of them. As is often the case in life, you get what you pay for, I paid £40 for a bottle of whisky, which is nicer than one that costs £25, but not as nice as one that costs £50 upwards, so I can’t really complain. So, now I’ve got that out the way, how does it taste? It’s smooth, slightly spicy, fruity, slightly woody, not much burn. There’s nothing overpowering or obvious, not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. In short, it’s a nice whisky, but unfortunately nothing stands out about it to make me want to buy it again, or recommend it. It ticks the right boxes, it smells and taste like whisky, but there’s nothing extra-special about this drink.

BEN BRACKEN 22 YEARS OLD ISLAY SINGLE MALT 40% ABV

NOSE: The peat is immediate and enveloping. It’s of the medicinal variety, suggesting sticking plaster, Germolene and camphor. Then there’s a slightly herbal, grassy character with the animal edge of a garden shed taken over by mice. Just a hint of light orange. Water pushes the smoke back, beckoning in toybox memories of Plasticine and Fuzzy-Felt, then forest undergrowth and a pinch of anise.

PALATE: There’s no escaping that smoke, but now it’s a charred, still smoking branch which catches at the back of your throat. There’s a pleasing savoury element too and some Garam Masala, and this savoury theme continues with water, before the smoke returns in lighter and more palatable form.

FINISH: On the short side and a little drying, but some fruit too.

Distilled in 1993, Product of Scotland. Ben Bracken distilled, matured and bottled in Scotland, Islay single malt scotch whisky. Chill Filtered and matured in oak casks for 22 years. Distilled in copper pot stills in the centuries-old manner, it is then laid down in oak casks and matured, undisturbed, for twenty-two years.This screams Islay almost too loudly, and subtlety is not its strong suit. But, once you grow accustomed to it, it’s very enjoyable – plus you can dial it down a bit with water. And did I mention the price…? Camping on a beach. You wake warmed by the morning sun, and the smoke from the dying embers of a fire drifts over, making you cough… and smile.

The senior citizens, the 40 YO, 27 YO and the 25 YO.