Whisky snobs avert your eyes now. We’re heading down to Lidl for some bargain basement Speyside Single Malt.
Announced for World Whisky day back in May this isn’t Lidl’s first venture into putting their name behind a Whisky but the lineup in 2017 features a Highland, an Islay and the Speyside we have Today.
All are non-age statement and all are £17.49 – putting them cheaper than an average bottle of big name blended Whisky that you might find in most supermarkets.
Region: Speyside
ABV: 40%
Batch: 2017
Price: £17.49 / 70cl
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Closer to Straw than Toffee with medium legs, looks good in a glass.
Nose: Quite soft on the nose with plenty of citrus notes and a faint nutty element.
Palate: Smooth and rounded feel on the tongue. Slightly spicy but the fruit notes are ever present and keep sweet at the forefront.
Finish: So light to drink that the length of the finish is a pleasantly long surprise.
Overall: Constantly surprising in the best ways
Summary:
This bottle was actually a gift to me and if I’m honest the person who gave it to me, although a great Whisky lover themselves, has a history of passing off their less than superb purchases on to me and although I’m one never to turn down free Whisky there has to be some consideration for quality.
As I hadn’t read any other reviews or done any research I was expecting much the same from this Lidl malt whisky. I’m really very glad at how wrong I was.
The bottle itself looks very good with a nice cork seal.
Colour and presentation score very highly as does the nose although it could be said that aromatically it’s a little weak however that’s really just trying to nitpick.
For the availability and cost of this Whisky, I really do think that it’s a Speyside that’s hard to beat.
For those that like a dram of Speyside and don’t want to push the boat out or impress anybody then, really, why would you consider much else for an evening drink?
In a blind test I’ve absolutely no doubt that this Whisky could be any number of other Speysides that are double the price and I think that you’d have to start spending 3 or even 4 times the cost of one of these bottles to get something that offers as good value and at that price point it shouldn’t be an everyday drinker anyway.
When a Whisky this good, at this price, comes along its effect is Twofold:
- Absolutely fantastic news for Whisky lovers
- It really does make you doubt the price you’re paying for things perhaps up to £60 that are showing what little value we’ve been getting up to now.
Could this be the start of a real quality Whisky revolution giving people access to much better Malt at lower prices?
Will the big boys start listening and stop fobbing us off with non age statement, chill-filtered, highly coloured and strangely named niche offerings at the lower price brackets to keep the price of their others up higher?
I certainly hope so, and I’ve no doubt that goes for many out there too. Well done Lidl – the only disappointment you’ll find in this dram, as I have just done, is when the bottle is empty!
So ignore the preconceptions this Lidl whisky (see what I did there?) is sure to put a smile on your face.
You can only get this whisky from Lidl stores.
Check out some more scotch whisky reviews here.
For more from the whisky range from Lidl at incredible prices get yourself down to the nearest store (they don’t let you order online for some reason).
Here is a second opinion from The Whisky Family YouTube channel (which is awesome btw):