Ben Bracken, Single Malt Scotch Miniatures, 40%

Ben Bracken made another appearance on Lidl’s shelves for the festive season.

For Irish shoppers Dundalgan Irish Whiskey is the year round staple & gives a degree of regionality to the store depending on which country you shop in.

I picked up the Ben Bracken miniature selection & noticed something was amiss – the Islay has been dropped!

Original 2019 selection c/othewhiskeynut

The 2019 incarnation had Speyside, Highland & Islay as a showcase for the regions – even if I’m not convinced they are responsible for flavour differences. The new box has instead a Peated & Smoked Highland as a substitute.

2023 selection c/othewhiskeynut

It intrigued me enough to give the set another tasting.

Now I freely admit Speyside isn’t my favourite style of whisky. Generally it’s mild, mellow, easy & inoffensive drinking – which might appeal to the majority of customers – but for my palate there’s not enough character to excite me.

Nosing exhibits that sweetly honeyed caramelly malt aroma. Pleasant enough mouthfeel, quite rich, an appreciative prickly bite on the rear with digestive biscuits thrown in.

Better than I expected.

Highland I’ve a bit more time for. They tend to offer more depth & body, often with a dash of peat – even if it’s at a percentage I can’t quite detect!

The nose is ever-so-similar to the Speyside, just slightly darker. Richer almost molasses like sweetness on the palate flows into an equally experienced yet deeper & smoother bite on the finish.

Not enough differentiation for my palate.

As for Peated & Smoked Highland – well that’s an undefined category.

Peated normally suggests the barley has been subjected to peat smoke prior to mashing. It could also have been maturation in ex-peated casks.

Smoked is a bit more vague.

What has been smoked? The barley? The barrels? And what material was used to produce the smoke? Peat? Wood? Seaweed?

Whatever the process Peated & Smoked automatically entices me!

Sadly an ever-so-feint hint of smoke peeks through the sweetness on the nose. I might not have picked this up on a blind-tasting. More sweet molasses on the palate. Soft kiss of peat on the rear with a much drier style of prickle on the rear.

The best of the bunch!

Thoughts

Initially disappointed that the Peated & Smoked doesn’t have the intensity I remember experiencing with the original Islay offering – but balanced by a better encounter with the Speyside.

Did find the Speyside & Highland extremely close together in the overall drinking & tasting session – only the Peated & Smoked offered a noticeable divergence.

Thinking Lidl have found a different source for this updated pack – even if Clydesdale Scotch from G2 are still the suppliers. Wondering if Islay has priced themselves out of the own-brand-supermarket supply arena?

Would be interested in your thoughts.

Message me below.

Sláinte

My 2019 blog on Ben Bracken here.

Dundalgan miniature blog here.

Ballechin 10 Year Old, Single Malt, 46%

Mindful of my own advice to not store whiskey too long before consumption, I looked into one of my storage cupboards – dark & at constant temperature – to find a shocking amount of bottles.

The Ballechin was one that attracted me.

It had a few things going for it.

Class! c/othewhiskeynut

To begin with – it was a small bottle that wouldn’t be around for long after opening. More pertinently it bore 3 phrases pleasing to my palate; unchill filtered, natural colour & heavily peated.

Class!

The nose was a mixture of peat smoke infused with dark stone fruits.

Rather than a dry ashy peatiness – a luscious smooth & engaging fruitiness eased me into a warming peat fire which wrapped me in it’s cosy embrace.

A gorgeously engaging whiskey to savor.

Info on the box c/othewhiskeynut

Emanating from Edradour Distilley in the Highlands – the Ballechin is a run of peated malt they do.

Interestingly, for the first 160 years of it’s existence from 1825, there were no single malt bottlings. All product was used for fillings in the highly successful blended scotch market. Only in 1986 did Edradour start releasing their own single malts when that category began to rise in popularity.

Whiskypedia c/othewhiskeynut

All this information was gleaned from Charles MaClean’s Whiskipedia book.

Which is a mine of information on Scottish Whisky Distilleries.

The perfect accompaniment to a great whisky.

Sláinte

Ben Bracken, Triple Pack, Single Malts, 40%

I’m a big fan of miniatures.

The opportunity to try out a range of styles – or in this case regions – before committing to a full bottle is always a treat.

Having said that. I’d already ruled out buying more supermarket own brand labels. They tend to be chill filtered with added caramel & whilst perfectly fine – they lack finesse.

But spotting these miniatures in my local Lidl.

A tasty trio! c/othewhiskeynut

I couldn’t pass them by.

Nosing the Speyside first – I choose to do Speyside – Highland – Islay starting from mildest to strongest flavours as recommended by many tasting journals – revealed a pleasant easy honeyed malt.

On a blind tasting this would sit well with any big label brand.

The palate was a bit watery & insignificant to begin with – common to all three malts – before a typical Speyside softly sweet & gentle flavour profile presented itself.

There was even a slight dry spice on the short finish.

Not bad at all.

Which region is your preference? c/othewhiskeynut

The Highland gave a bit more malt biscuity depth to the proceedings.

The Islay – which was my favourite – offered a straight forward satisfying smoky hit.

Each gave a perfectly decent snapshot of the regional styles – perhaps lacking in depth & complexity – but nonetheless an extremely enjoyable way of discerning your palates preferences.

Nice one Lidl!

Slàinte