A Scot on Scotch reviews Lidl’s Ben Bracken Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
Lidl Whisky
For a number of years now, Lidl supermarkets have been occupying headlines and winning awards for their budget-friendly whisky brands. The number of different award ceremonies might render the winning of one almost meaningless but you can’t help but raise an eyebrow when an £18 bottle is singled out for such praise. Single malts are bottled under the Ben Bracken range, a made-up name that doesn’t relate to any distillery in Scotland but certainly sounds the part. The range features Highland, Islay and Speyside expressions and I reviewed the Islay bottling a wee while ago so naturally, it seemed about time I tried out another. So off to my local Lidl I went and home I came with their Speyside malt, my bank account drained of a measly £16.49.
The Speyside Region
Speyside is a protected whisky-producing region under UK Government legislation. In the 1800s, the area was famed for its Glenlivet whisky, with the hills and glens around the River Spey home to dozens of scattered stills, churning out spirit that could be smuggled to eager customers in the lowlands. It was a lifestyle not without risk, however. Excisemen were always on the prowl, looking to shut down any such enterprise.
The Caledonian Mercury of Thursday 7th November 1822 recounted the tale of Thomas Wilson, an officer of the excise in the town of Beith. One day, Thomas witnessed an innocent looking horse and cart pass through the town before having his suspicions raised when four stout Highlanders followed behind, apparently offering the cart and its cargo some sort of protection. Wilson gave chase and at the Toll Bar, just outside Kilbirnie, he attempted to seize the cart and its cargo. For his troubles he was attacked and thrown into a ditch, where the four Highlanders “proceeded to abuse him in the most barbarous manner”. During the assault, the fifth man escaped with the horse and cart.
Two local lads came to the exciseman’s rescue and the Highlanders took flight. Wilson and his two new-found assistants gave chase, coming to a halt at Barr, near Lochwinnoch. There they found nine casks of whisky abandoned by the roadside. Contained within was some eighty or ninety gallons of whisky. While they were investigating, the Highlanders re-appeared, resulting in a “severe and unremitting skirmish” that only ended when some local Lochwinnoch men chased the smugglers away. Despite suffering considerable personal injury, Thomas Wilson accomplished his task and delivered the quantity of smuggled whisky to the excise office in Beith.
I’ve often wondered what happened to such whisky after it was seized and I was able to find the answer in another newspaper, this time The London Courier and Evening Gazette of 23 May 1836 which carried an advert from Henry Brett & Co… “The admirers of illicitly-distilled spirit have now a rare opportunity of laying in a stock of true poteen malt whisky of extraordinary age and flavour, from actual seizures recently submitted to sale by the Honourable Commissioners of Excise, of which we were purchasers.”
In the end many distillers opted to make use of the Excise Act of 1823, purchasing a license for a relatively small sum and creating a legitimate tax-paying business. The Speyside region, once a hub for such so-called illicit goings on is now home to more than half of Scotland’s distilleries, with three of the five best selling single malts in the world produced there…
Ben Bracken Speyside Review
Lidl’s Speyside Ben Bracken is bottled at 40% and retails anywhere between £16 and £20, depending on the time of year.
Smell: Malt, honey, apple… Straw. Caramel and toffee. Cinnamon. Wee bit of oak.
Taste: Orange, apple, pear… Malt and honey. Muesli. Toffee, butterscotch (Werther’s Original!)… Cinnamon and a wee bit of ginger.
Thoughts: I mean… What can I say? £16.50 a bottle. £16.50!!!! It’s better than some drams at double that price. Obviously we’re not talking about life-changing experiences, but as an everyday sipper of a dram, you won’t find more for less.
It’s a nice wee Speyside dram that does the simple stuff well. Sure it’s only 40% but there’s a fullness of flavour that no sub-£20 bottle has any right to display. Lidl are quite simply knocking it out the park of late and whilst more than a year has been lost to the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses have been decimated, jobs lost and the need for a bargain never greater, it’s reassuring to know that Lidl will see you right for a decent drop for less than £20.
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