SUPERMARKET OWN BRAND WHISKIES - UNCUT & UNFILTERED 48
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- Опубликовано: 3 мар 2024
- Dive into the world of supermarket own branded whiskies with us in this eye-opening episode! We're putting popular own-brand releases from Marks and Spencer, the COOP, Waitrose, Lidl, and Aldi to the taste test. Join the conversation as we discuss whether some deserve to be called whisky and if they can stand up against distillery bottlings...which one just might do....
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Jake - / the.whisky.baron
Ian - / poshscotch
Stevie - / drampirate
Well done boys, you are doing the hard yards so we don't have to.
It’s a tough job Richard but we do our best!
Sainsbury's do Highland and Speyside "Taste the Difference" bottles at £24. Can't see an age statement.
AnCnoc 12 used to be under £30. Ian made a great point - wait for offers. Laphroaig 10 is £31 and Bunnahabhain Stiuireadair £27. With your Nectar Card!
Heroic tasting Gents.
Thanks for tuning in Steve! Agreed - waiting for offers on known OBs is probably the right shout 9 times out of 10. Always interesting to try something new though! Sláinte my friend 🥃🥃
This what “taking one for the team” looks like! Glad you guys did the hard work on our behalf! 🤣
Was genuinely hoping there might be something ok there 😢
Someone’s got to do it! A tough old life we lead ey 😂
I tried the M&S 12y speyside when I was over at my dad’s and I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t expecting much as it was 40% abv but I felt it had better than expected mouthfeel, and was a gentle dram with some lovely fruit notes coming through. Maybe this replacement 10y that you tried isn’t quite the same quality.
Back in 2016 when I was getting into whisky I bought the Lidl Ben Bracken Islay. Around £18 at the time. This was before I had tasted anything above 40% abv and only had about 5 bottles (entry level) in the cupboard. And this one stood up well against those other bottles. So at that time it was a really nice whisky. Perfect for someone who wants to try whisky without spending too much.
And then of course you find yourself going down a rabbit hole and spending more on bottles than you thought you would.
Interesting on the M&S bottle - wish we could have tried the 12y/o!
You’re absolutely right Fraser - as a beginner with a budget I’m sure a lot of these sorts of drams hit the mark. Unfortunately I’ve opened Pandora’s whisky box and few of the drams in this sufficed
Ian is spot on, wait for branded whisky to come on offer & take advantage of the good stuff.
Seems to be the consensus in the comments and I have to concur Graham. What’s your chosen OB?
Another great episode gents on a sensitive topic. You sometimes ask for comments and/or suggestions. Even though scotch is more my jam, I’d love to see an episode on Irish Whiskeys if you’re open to something beyond scotch. Keep up the great work….. your 1000 subscriber is just around the corner.
Thanks Jan, love having you join us as always. And your comment is very much appreciated - we’ve just been discussing and Irish and a Bourbon episode funnily enough so we’ll be sure to push these forward for you!
We may also have a special episode for when we hit 1000 subs so stay tuned 🥃🥃
😂😂😂 Go on Posh Scotch! Got me cracking up on the decisions at the end 👏
Only decision is to bin them 😂
@@IanBear1000 hope see you guys at Whisky Live on 23rd where we will be able to taste some proper whisky!
He doesn’t hold back does he! We’ll be at Whisky Live on 22nd Joe - don’t suppose you fancy booking an extra day? Would be great to meet you and share a dram
@@TheWhiskyBaron Ah that’s a shame! Can’t unfortunately, run my own cleaning business and Fridays are our busiest day with everyone wanting to be tidy going into the weekend! Looking forward to trying some different distilleries and Milroy’s as well for the first time. Any recommendations?
@@joetrigg5378 in honesty I haven't really looked at the lineup. Best recommendation I can give you is to get there early so as you're the first in and can beat the rush to the more popular stands. Hope you have an incredible weekend at the show! sláinte
Talking about awards. The OSWA's as so important because it is how we get a real ssy in the industry.
Anyway well done for taking this plunge into the lower end
Always happy to get our hands dirty so you don’t have to Graeme! Sláinte
Agree on the E150 gents, you can absolutely taste it especially if overused. It can also make a whisky quite cloying on the finish.
Perfect description - cloying. Couldn’t have put it better myself James. Sláinte my friend 🥃
Whyte and Mackay bottle could be Tamnavulin.
I’d say you’re most likely right
you guys got me excited and into whiskey
Thanks Mark - that’s genuinely so lovely to hear! Sláinte 🥃
The Co-op one is a weird one. It’s much more likely it’s Tamnavulin if it is a W&M bottling. But in my local coop in Glasgow there’s not any other W&M products so it’s not like they have a contract or anything. Did get Benromach organic for £30ish recently though so good place for deals.
That’s an interesting point - good detective skills. Sounds like I may need to pop in to Co-Op for some OB deals if nothing else!
I think most of the bargain blend stuff is made for mixing and in some ways the harshness helps cut through the coke. I always thought that was why JD was popular as there’s no way I’d have that neat. I deliberately buy some slightly rough edged stuff for the missus to mix with coke (not because I don’t like her!). The supermarket ones vary over time as I suspect suppliers change and the label doesn’t but reckon they have been palmed off with rubbish for last couple of years across the board. I’ve had some decent supermarket ones over the years (Asda, Sainsburys) but it’s easy to pick up good stuff for low £20’s elsewhere (Adelphi blend even at 40%) but I’m not in a supermarket on a Saturday night with no booze at home and trying to choose between own brand label or overpriced Glenlivet not on offer. I’ve still got an Asda 25yo and 30yo (which were £20 and £25 respectively!) which are ‘ok’ but you’d take a decent 12yo over them any day of the week.
Well said! I think suppliers are really trying to force the price down, when they shouldn’t - or just leave it to red label 😂
“Not because I don’t like her!” 😅 that’s brilliant. I’d say you’re fairly spot on here Andrew - no doubt there are some decent gems to be had out there, but I’d say unless you’re mixing them then OBs on offer are safer bets than supermarket own brands
Great topic for discussion fellas and some very interesting points raised. The Ben Bracken Highland and Speyside bottlings are actually quite drinkable for ~£17. They both taste remarkably similar to Tamnavulin and a bit of detective works leads me to believe that's exactly what they are. Also, the Ben Bracken 16YO and 19YO Christmas releases from a few years ago (£35 & £40 respectively) were also very good value for money - both 43% and rumoured to be either Caol Ila or Lagavulin. Slightly thin due to the ABV but head and shoulders above the core range.
We should probably try and get some of these LE versions for a round 2! 😂
I'd offer to send you some samples but I polished my bottles off a while ago! @@IanBear1000
Agreed with Ian; seems as though some more digging in this realm might be in order! Thanks for the insight - sláinte 🥃🥃
Bought a bottle of Queen Margot because of the awards, possibly Ralfy talked about it. It was fine, but did become a sink pour to make space for something I actually wanted!
No, not a sink drink! Shame to hear even that one didn’t hit the mark Art but thanks for commenting and getting involved. Hope to see you on the next one - sláinte 🥃
Love that you did this review chaps! Being based in Canada, I won't be able to get my hands on any of these, sadly. I know it's not strictly a supermarket, but I would have thrown Costco's Kirkland bottlings into this mix. Maybe that could go into a review against the Berry Bros & Rudd and Wine Society bottlings for another video?
We’ve got an episode with Berry’s coming soon James so stay tuned! And don’t worry - you’re not missing anything too special with this lineup. Hope to see you on the next one my guy. Sláinte 🥃
Oddbins were great and released some incredible own label stuff.
Sadly a time gone by Ian, but I remember those days too!
“Actually you can get some fucking fruit” Ian on the Creag Dhubh 😂😂.
Waitrose is where it’s at when it comes to options. Ben Bracken Islay is better than anything coming out of Bowmore under £100. Here in Scotland a few years back the govt introduced a minimum pricing per litre of alcohol in an attempt to curb drinking while lining their pockets with more taxes and to be honest it’s been a long time since I came across an alcoholic where whisky was the tipple of choice, vodka and cheap wine/cider and good old beer are far bigger culprits. I honestly don’t know who is even buying these bargain basement blends anymore, there is almost nothing pleasant about them compared to what was being produced in the 20th century.
Asda and Tesco both do there own range highland , speyside & Islay all for around the £20 mark
What’re your thoughts Graeme, any worth having in the cupboard?
Where is the 21yr episode? I’d love to have a look/listen.
Incidentally in Taiwan Kavalan is so cheap you can pick up their basic, core expressions for 20quid (an under in some cases) from every/any 7/11, supermarket, etc, and even pick up soloists from 65quid - hard to find better value.
21s is coming soon! 🎉
@@IanBear1000 good stuff, looking forward to it.
Battle of the 21s will be in a few weeks so stay tuned!
Kavalan is one we need to explore so thanks for the recommendation 🥃🥃 sláinte
Fabulous video!!
funny episode guys, I,ve had a 30 year old islay Ben Bracken it was very nice to be fair ,
Thanks for tuning in Colin, glad it was good craic at least! These Ben Brackens seem to come in quite an array of age statements. Mind me asking how much the 30y/o was?
@@TheWhiskyBaron I had it at the artisan whisky bar and it was £10 a dram, Derek the owner usually prices about 10% of bottle price so im guessing it would have been around £100 .
@@colinmcquade29 interesting - you're not the only one who has tried one of these older supermarket drams at a whisky bar so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled moving forward. sláinte!
PoshScotch, what on earth made you pick that top. I feel like i have old-fashioned tv static burned into ny eyeballs everytime you are centre stage.
Great video though guys.
😂😂😂 sorry
@@IanBear1000 No worries.
😂 this got me good. Always the fashionista is our Ian
I can recommend the M and s kilchoman which I think is under £40. You should do a more premium pod like u did with the auction pod
I didn’t even know they did one Paul! Seems like we might have to - thanks for the recommendation 🥃🥃 sláinte
glad youy tried them, so i don't have to.
rather spent 10 euro's more on a good bottle
Someone has to do the hard yards Erwin! Absolutely though - spend your money more wisely than we’ve done here my friend 🥃
Just started this video and out of those you have my preference if I had to pick one is the coop 12 yr old truly irresistible range ..
It’s in par with I think Glenfiddich ..
But that’s just me ..
Cheap blends are only good for 1 thing
Hot toddy or a whisky Mac .
Mixed but nothing more
I’d say it surpasses the ‘Fiddich 12 in fairness Graeme. Have to agree with you on the rest though - in honesty I’m not sure I’d waste my lemons and honey on some of them!
As you know Jake I love your bottled whisky but luckily for me I got to try your range thanks to Dan at the summerton club ..
So my range has gone from the cheap end of whisky at £20-£30 to now £40 up to the £100 bottles I’ve bought from you ..
You’re a gent Graeme and I’m truly honoured that you trust The Whisky Baron with the more expensive bottles in your cupboard. We’ve got a few things in the works with Dan and The Summerton Club so keep your eyes peeled!
I have the Ben Bracken 19, it's a decent drop and easy sipper, the age and 43% probably helps a fair bit. By no means mind-blowing, but it is an easy sipper and very pleasant.
Another great episode! Looking forward to the next and hopefully a Craigellachie OB and IB one soon 👀
19 Ben Bracken - an interesting thought. Mind me asking what you paid?
Definitely getting a Craigellachie episode into the lineup soon so stay tuned! Sláinte Ciaran 🥃🥃
@TheWhiskyBaron £30 plus fees from an auction, I thought I'd give it a go and thought it can't be any worse than Black Rod 👀
Looking forward to the next episode! Slàinte
@@ciaranmcnally6172I don’t think anything could be that bad! Still have the bottle if you want some 😂
Thanks for support Ciaran; see you on the next one 🥃🥃
I agree with everyone on their points. There is a duty to price a harmful product at not ridiculously cheap, however, I know some old people who have a bottle of budget whisky in the cupboard, they maybe only have 1 dram a month, and to them a shoulder of whisky for £15 is a great offer. They'd be like "Why spend £50 on a bottle when I can have one for £15".
I had a similar conversation with my grandad about watches, I had a nice one I was getting and he was like "I've had mine for 20years and it only cost me like £20".
I think there are people drinking that whisky at that price and 'enjoying' it in moderation, but we're just not a part of that group so we don't see it.
Very fair point! Our brains are wired different 😂
I drank alcohol as a young kid under the supervision of my parents so that when I hit 18 I didn’t go nuts as you learn to respect that alcohol is dangerous like anything you drink too much off .
A great topic for the show, well done.I do buy the odd cheap bottle to reset my pallet, I went out and bought Johnnie Walker Black and Double black £24 and £30 to me they are very poor in all counts. Better cheap value for me are
Shackleton blend £21
Deanston Virgin £27
Old Pulteney £26
Talisker 10 and Storm often under £30.
Shame to hear you didn’t enjoy the JW Black editions - I quite like both of them. Some great alternatives there though Jimmy! What’s your favourite?
Depends on the day Talisker, Bunna, Kilkerran, Longrow, Port Charlotte and list could go on.@@TheWhiskyBaron
If it smells like it's going to give you a headache, best avoided! I would defend cheap blends: perhaps they are what a family gets in for Christmas, or perhaps they are what me as a student would have bought 12 years ago, thinking it very classy to have a bottle of Teacher's on my shelf, or ordering a Grouse at the pub. At least, I would defend them if it weren't for the fact that whenever I try one now, I'm sure it didn't used to smell like whiteboard markers. Have they gotten worse, or have I just become a snob as well? Perhaps blended scotch would be a good topic.
I do share your concern about supermarkets making things too cheap, when they put out something cheaper than anything else and slash the price even further with discounts until it has surely bypassed the legal £ per vol tax.
pulteney 12 is like 26/27 quid when on offer and i'd speculate that it would beat most if not all of the lineup in this episode
I’d say you’re probably bang on the money there. As Ian quite rightly said, probably worth waiting for a good OB sale and grabbing something you know you’ll like
I wonder if the third one had been corked based on those tasting notes 😅 maybe their cork batch had been compromised. /Inka
I can only hope you’re right Inka! Have you tried any of these yourself?
Thanks for catching these blows so we don't have to. Locally we have a blend called white lion. Might get a 200ml 6 eur bottle just for a laugh. Also have a glen talloch on offer all year around. Absolute pish.
Lmao, love this episode.
Thanks JJ! Big love for your support of the channel, can’t wait to meet you one day (soon hopefully!) 🥃🥃
@@TheWhiskyBaron Likewise 🙏🏼
M&S 12 years is better than the 10 great whisky chat
You’re not the only one to say this - looks like a follow up episode may be in order. Thanks for tuning in Liam! Sláinte 🥃
Asda do have single malts but I think they are non aged ( well minimum aged ) to class as non aged . Just looked they did but not sure why they stopped ,
We had a quick look in Asda and couldn’t see anything but seems like we may need to do a round 2 of this anyway so we’ll see what we can find
Hi guys have you tried a bottle called
Canmore single malt
I have the 12 yr old .. you can pick up for under £40 (
It’s also a small town in Canada near Calgary ) beautiful scenery
From the 3 sisters , Chinamans peak ) you can visit lake Louise.
Just be mindful of the bears 😂😂
Don’t think I’ve ever tried that one Graeme - is it worth the money? So long as I don’t have to brave any potential bears I’m happy to give it a shot
@@TheWhiskyBaron it has gone touristy so the bears venture into the town ..
Wear bells if walking around the pathways close to the river..
don’t want to meet an angry mom 😳
Glad that you take our pain away by trying these, so we can spend our money on better Malts. There was a time though when I didn't know better and I bought these malts to add to coke! But thanks to RUclips and you guys we know there is a lot better. It's just a shame that potentially good whisky is wasted by bad presentation. Why not do a show on improving cheap supermarket whisky's by adding a touch of decent whisky to it ? Ralfy has talked about that in the past.
Good shout - dunno what else we would do with these 😂
Who makes Glenfairn that is at Tesco ?
Can’t say I’ve ever seen it Graeme but I’ll keep my eyes open for it next time I’m shopping and see if I can figure it out
My oh my gentlemen.
Little judgemental about people's budgets today.
If I could drink 21yo GD or 25yo Talisker or single cask every day like yourselves I would especially if I had a warehouse full of casks.
Alas I can't I have a selection of single cask and calibre bottles. At the same time if I slotted all these every day I'd not be able to afford to replace them.
Therefore I also have a selection of bottles at £35 or under and most of these have caught alot of people out on a blind tasting.
And speaking of blind tasting over on WP a bunch of us just did a series of 15 bottle samples on a blind tasting and none of them were awful. Good stuff is out there at that budget.
The next round of 15 blind samples is with blended whisky under £40. I'm 99% we're going to find some good whisky that will have a better cost to yummy ratio than more expensive single malt.
Jake join us or send Posh Scotch for the next round of blind samples.
I tried Bren Bracken from Lidl 8yo highland single malt, will not buy it again.
Better alternatives out there right Mike!
Even at the beginning of my "whisky journey," I was never tempted to buy this shite. 💩
Neither was I Sandy so this was truly a new experience for me. Not one I’ll be rushing back to I have to say! Sláinte my friend 🥃
Re quality and 'elitism' Once you get a taste for quality there's no turning back, nothing to do with elitism. You'd never listen to a shit band just because their music's cheaper
That’s a very good point James. And equally, price isn’t always aligned with quality. Although it seems as though in this episode it largely is! Thanks for tuning in and getting involved - sláinte 🥃
Why would you buy any of these, pure piss
Master of malt do some cracking single malts at the same price range
Well we had to try them in order to rate them fairly! But you’re fairly spot on and absolutely right with the MOM alternatives