Review No.117. Ben Bracken Speyside

Whisky: Ben Bracken Speyside Scotch Single Malt Whisky, 40%

Nose: Raisins, dried fruit, vanilla, cinnamon, bread, honey, shoe polish

Taste: Dried fruit, malt, dark chocolate

Finish: Dark chocolate

Score: 2.25

Summary: Again, another nice single malt from the range.  This is easy drinking too but a bit too light in texture for me. I get a lot of raisins throughout the aroma and taste.  On the nose I pick up some honey and spice and also cake but I struggle to pick much of these up on the taste.  I find the aroma more interesting than the taste.  There is a slightly rough alcohol scent to this which I picked up as shoe polish. I can’t help but compare this to Aberlour 20 which you get for £20 on offer at some major supermarkets.  Knowing this, it is difficult for me recommend it but then at the price of £17.50 I really don’t think you can go wrong, it’s just that you can pick up something much better for a few ponds more.

Scoring scale: My scores reflect a balance of the overall experience, availability and cost for a whisky,

1 – not to my preference

2 – tastes fine but does not excite me

3 – more to my liking and would revisit occasionally

4 – very much to my liking and would consider as a regular feature on my whisky shelf

5 – permanent feature on my whisky shelf

Image source: www.lidl.co.uk