An unadventurous, unremarkable supermarket single malt fails to stand out. In the world of whisky, you often get what you pay for—and this is no exception.
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The details
Distillery: Unknown Speyside distillery for Aldi
Bottler: Aldi
Age: No Age Statement (NAS)
Bottle: 70cl
Number of bottles: Mass produced.
ABV: 40%
Cask type: White oak. I'm guessing bourbon with a short second-fill sherry. I could be wrong here as there are no strong wood notes.
Filtered/coloured: Unknown. Probably chill-filtered with E150 colouring for consistent appearance.
Sample date: Monday 1st November 2021
Region: Speyside
Peated/unpeated: Unpeated.
Cost: £16.99
Availability: Any Aldi supermarket
From the bottle
"This signature whisky flavour comes from traditional maturation in white oak casks. The whisky is matured for a minimum of 3 years for unsurpassed flavour. Aroma: A rich malty aroma with biscuity sweetness and fresh fruit notes. A delicate leafy character is balanced with vanilla sweetness. Taste: Sweet and rounded with a vanilla oakiness. The malty character carries through into the taste with subtle notes of caramelised fruits. Finish: Mellow and long lasting."
Tasting notes
Eye
A sort of peachy gold. Watery legs because it's 40%.
Nose
Light on the nose. Sweet and leafy. A little apple. Green tomatoes. Maybe some pineapple. It's quite difficult to find anything else. Not complex. Like the bottle description says, there's a biscuity note and a malty note but there's also a prominent sweet-and-sour note right in the middle, which doesn't fit well. A bit of vanilla and a hint of coconut, mixed in with a bit of wet cardboard. There's some marzipan buried down deep, alongside a hint of coffee. I would recommend leaving this in the glass for a good ten minutes or so. That's when some pleasant almond and coffee notes come out and the sweet-and-sour antifreeze falls into the background. It takes patience and hard work to get at the nose of this dram. My initial nosing score was 10, but I'm boosting this to 11 because there is some improvement over time.
After a touch of water, the bum notes falls away showing up more of the apple, the biscuitiness gets stronger, and an edge of sherry develops. Not a lot, as this is young spirit.
SCORE: 11/25
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Taste
Light, slightly creamy mouthfeel. Sweet barley sugar. Not unpleasant. A little caramel. Runny honey. A little lemon. Again, not complex. At 40%, it doesn't need water. This tastes better than it noses. By now, it's been in the glass for 15-20 minutes, which may be a factor. Tomorrow I may pour a glass and leave it for a full hour to breath. Then I'll add an update below.
After water, it's generally more pleasant. Sherry makes an appearance on the palette. It would be easy to drown this with too much water, so be careful.
SCORE: 14/25
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Finish
Brown sugar (a little burnt, perhaps) and maltiness which lasts. A bit of banana.
After water, the finish is more mellow and enjoyable. Not bad at all.
SCORE: 14/25
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Overall
There are better supermarket whiskies in the same price range.
SCORE: 13/25
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Final verdict
Is it worth a try? Probably not, unless you're really pushed for choice. You're not missing anything if you don't buy this.
TOTAL: 52/100
⭐⭐⭐
There are other much better drams, like Aldi's Highland Black and Ben Bracken Islay from Lidl. Better still, get an Abrachan from Lidl. Personally, I really like Abrachan. It has a funky character to it, which Speyside-heads might not like.
I don't like giving bad reviews; after all somebody made this. However, feedback is valuable (both good or bad). I'm sure they (the distillery and Aldi) can do better than this. I believe the Glen Marnoch 12 year old (£20.99) won a Scotch Whisky Master Award, although the tasting notes seem identical to this NAS expression. If you're in Aldi looking for whisky, spend the extra few quid and try that one instead (I haven't tried it, yet). I'll probably pick up a bottle sometime and review it here. Otherwise, but the Highland Black blend, which I tried last year. It's way better than this (and cheaper).
The last word: There are worse drams out there. There's nothing bad here. but it's not good either.
Final interesting fact: The bottom of the bottle says "63mm", meaning the level of the spirit should be 62 millimeters from the top of the bottle for it to measure 70cl/700ml.
Other drams from Aldi:
Single malts: Glen Marnoch Highland, Glen Marnoch Islay, Glen Orrin Ale Cask
Blends: Glen Orrin 12 YO, Highland Earl, Highland Black, Kyasuku Japanese Whisky.
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