Aldi scoops top whisky prize with £12.99 bottle - alongside another tipple costing SIX times as much

Home Top

'I was mistreated': Bruce Jenner unveils his new female identity as Caitlyn and lifts lid on marriage to 'controlling' ex-wife Kris ... while Kardashian matriarch brands ex-husband as 'passive-aggressive'
Revealed: The hourly wage a renter will need to afford a two-bedroom apartment across the US... and Hawaii is the most expensive
State Trooper who let Josh Duggar go after he allegedly molested young girls later 'attempted suicide and was found in a pool of blood in his jail cell in 2010' after being imprisoned for child porn
Disgraced Lehman Brothers boss who presided over biggest bankruptcy in American history trying to sell off the $27 million Idaho bolthole he hid for years
'Our chickens do not have eight legs': KFC sues three companies in China for internet hoax claiming their chickens are 'Frankenstein food'
PTSD-suffering Iraq war hero 'who killed wife's parents and brother' blamed them for marriage woes and told police Russian intelligence service was behind triple homicide
Lesbian Virginia Tech student killed her lover after flying into a rage because she wore sweats to their 'whipped cream and wine' date and called it an 'experiment', court hears as she is jailed
'Sorry....still calling you Bruce': Nickelodeon star Drake Bell faces backlash over negative Caitlyn Jenner tweet
Senior citizens scammed out of $500K after being led to believe they would have roles in big budget remakes of movies including Cocoon and On Golden Pond
Mom furious after six-year-old daughter is put on the wrong school bus twice
Statue of missionary preaching to Native Americans moved from Catholic university for promoting 'Christian and white supremacy'
Dashcam footage shows pastor who 'was not capable of violence' DID aggressively lunge at a state trooper trying to rescue him from floodwaters... prompting the officer to retaliate and shoot him dead
NBC is 'damaging the reputation of Nightly News' the longer it makes no decision on the fate of disgraced Brian Williams says Shelley Ross
Ex-DSHS employee 'had sex in a state-owned van and in her car' with juvenile offender who was under her care at re-integration facility
Tracy Morgan will never fully be himself again says his doctor as comedian praises the medical team that aided his rehabilitation
'The loss of my friend will never heal': Tracy Morgan breaks down in tears in first interview since truck crash killed fellow comedian and left him with severe brain trauma
'The lion lunged at the car and bit the lady through the window': Staff at South African safari park reveal horrific moment US woman, 22, was dragged to her death after leaving her car window open
String of earthquakes reaching magnitude 5.9 strike off Oregon coast but experts say there's no tsunami danger
Boy, 17, pretends to be FBI agent to test drive $27,000 car... then crashes it
What does YOUR phone think you'll say? Hilarious Reddit thread asks predictive keyboard users to create sentences
EXPOSED: How dozens of explosives and weapons made it through TSA checkpoints in 95 PERCENT of undercover airport tests
The adventures of Jonny and Nibbles! Boy and duck share adorable best friendship as they kiss goodbye before school, play tag and watch television together
Black flag of ISIS flies from mangled helicopter after extremists take over airbase and destroy notorious prison once used by Syrian regime
American journalist hostage held by Iran-backed forces in Yemen is freed and taken to Oman

Several bottles of Aldi whisky given string of awards at two competitions
Aldi given a gold, bronze and silver at the International Spirit Challenge
Spirits Business Scotch Whisky Masters awarded two golds and a silver
Highland Black 8 Year Old Scotch Whisky was ranked alongside £75 bottle

Published: 09:29 EST, 1 June 2015 | Updated: 09:46 EST, 1 June 2015

View
comments

A £12.99 whisky from Aldi has scooped the top prize in a blind taste test, alongside a bottle of the spirit worth six times the price.

The Highland Black 8 Year Old Scotch Whisky was among several bottles sold at the budget supermarket which have been given a string of awards at two high-profile spirit competitions.

Judges at the International Spirit Challenge awarded Aldi a gold, silver and bronze for its whiskies, while those at the Spirits Business Scotch Whisky Masters awarded the chain two golds and a silver.

Aldi's Highland Black 8 Year Old Scotch Whisky (left) has been ranked alongside another whisky which costing £75 following a blind taste test, while the £13.29 Glen Orrin 5 Year Old Malt Whisky (right) was awarded a gold and silver at two prestigious competitions

The Highland Black, one of those given gold at the ISC, was even ranked by Spirit judges as being on a par with the Glen Ord 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky - which typically retails at around £75.

Meanwhile, the £13.29 Glen Orrin 5 Year Old Malt Whisky was given gold and silver at the two competitions and the £11.49 Highland Earl Scotch Whisky was awarded silver and bronze.

The Clarke's Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey was given silver at the ISC and the £17.99 Glen Marnoch Speyside Single Malt Whisk was given a 'master' award because of its high quality.

Aldi has now received 12 major accolades in the past three years for its drinks.

Tony Baines, from Aldi, said: 'We are extremely proud that our own-label whisky range has been recognised by some of the world's leading experts.

'To win one award is a privilege but to win eight medals at these esteemed competitions is absolutely fantastic.

The £11.49 Highland Earl Scotch Whisky (left) was awarded silver and bronze at the awards while the £17.99 Glen Marnoch Speyside Single Malt Whisk (right) was given a 'master' award because of its high quality

LIST OF ALDI WINNERS

International Spirit Challenge

Gold:

Highland Black 8 Year Old Scotch Whisky

Silver:

Glen Orrin 5 Year Old Malt Whisky

Clarke’s Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey

Bronze:

Highland Earl Scotch Whisky

Spirits Business Scotch Whisky Masters

Master:

Glen Marnoch Speyside Single Malt Whisky

Gold:

Highland Black 8 Year Old Scotch Whisky

Glen Orrin Malt Whisky

Silver:

Highland Earl Scotch Whisky

'2015 is proving to be a fantastic year so far in terms of award wins - and we hope our customers will join us in raising a glass to celebrate.'

Earlier this month, Aldi's wine range - where a bottle only costs an average of £5.59 - scooped 43 medals at a prestigious awards ceremony.

Judges at the International Wine Challenge awarded Aldi with two gold, seven silver and 16 bronze medals. Its wines were also highly commended 18 times.

Last month, the supermarket also won seven top international awards for its spirits and liqueurs - trumping drinks which were six times more expensive.

Aldi's range of gin, vodka and liqueurs, with an average price of just £8, won five silver medals, as well as two bronze, at the International Spirits Challenge.

Among the winning drinks, Aldi's Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin (£9.99) picked up a silver medal, while Beefeater Burrough's Reserve Gin which sells for a staggering £62.95 was given a bronze in its category.