Aldi bargain whisky beats posh spirits costing three times the price

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Aldi whisky
Aldi whisky

Aldi's own label whisky is an impressive bargain, at just £12.99. You'd be forgiven for thinking that for this kind of money you can't expect anything outstanding, but you'd be wrong. It has just won a medal at the International Spirits Challenge - beating whisky that costs more than three times the price.

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Aldi's Highland Black 8 Year Old Whisky claimed a silver medal - its sixth from the highbrow awards. It beat a number of far posher whiskies in the process - including the £45.55 Ardmore Traditional Peated.

Supermarket whisky took a number of silver medals in general - for Marks & Spencer Whisky, a handful of Co-op whiskies, Morrison Distillers Choice Blended Malt, and Waitrose 3 and 8 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky, Tesco Finest 12 Year Old Single Highland Malt, Tesco Finest 12 Year Old Single Speyside Malt, and Tesco Special Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky. However, Aldi's comes out as the cheapest - and in some cases is far cheaper.

It wasn't the only Aldi whisky to get this honour (although it was the cheapest). The Glen Marnoch Highland Single Malt (£17.49) and Glen Marnoch Speyside Single malt Whisky (£17.49) were also awarded silver medals.

The range has done well in awards recently. In 2016 alone it picked up a total of 22 accolades.

Who drinks whisky?

Whisky may not be as fashionable as gin at the moment, but we drink just as much of it as we do of gin. Some 12% of people choose it over anything else.

Miles Beale, Wine and Spirits Trade Association Chief Executive Officer, says whisky is also on the rise He explains: "The spirit market in the UK is a very exciting time to be in just now. We are seeing consumers experiment with more and more spirits, especially with Millennials. Whiskies fit into this category as a versatile and trendy product that also happens to be the base of the most popular cocktail in the world – the Old Fashioned."

Of course, if gin is your drink of choice, the discount supermarket highlights that its own label Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin (£9.97) also took silver in the International Spirits Challenge earlier this year.

But what do you think? Would you drink spirits from a discount supermarket? Or do you prefer to stick with the brands? Let us know in the comments.

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