I Tried Every Lidl Whisky So You Don't Have To

Lidl's whisky range sits in an awkward spot. It's slightly more expensive than Aldi's, slightly less consistently good, and benefits from less word-of-mouth promotion. The online consensus is either "Lidl whisky is terrible" (wrong) or "Lidl whisky is secretly amazing" (also wrong). The truth is more specific: two of their bottles are exceptional value, two are fine, and two you should walk past.

I bought six bottles, tasted them blind alongside a branded benchmark, and ranked them.

The range

Lidl's whisky range varies slightly by region and time of year, but typically includes:

• Glen Orchy 10 Year Old Speyside Single Malt (~£18–20)
• Glen Orchy Highland Single Malt (~£15–17)
• Tullibardine 20 Year Old (when available, ~£38–42 — a branded distillery collaboration, not own-label)
• Highland Earl Blended Scotch (~£13)
• Duncarron Blended Scotch (~£11–12)
• Glencraig Whisky Liqueur (~£8–10)

The range shifts seasonally, and some stores carry additional premium bottles around Christmas. The Tullibardine 20 Year Old is a genuine find when it appears — more on that below.

The results

Tasted blind at room temperature, neat, then with water.

1st place: Tullibardine 20 Year Old — 4.3/5

Price: ~£40 · ABV: 43% · Type: Single malt Highland

When this appears in Lidl — usually around autumn/winter — it's the best value whisky in any UK supermarket at its price point. Tullibardine is a real distillery near Blackford in Perthshire, and this is a real 20-year-old expression sold at roughly half the price it would command under the standard Tullibardine label.

The whisky is excellent. Complex, genuinely developed: warm oak, dried fruit, vanilla, a little toffee, and a long, warming finish. At £40 for a 20-year-old single malt, this is the kind of bargain that comes around rarely. If you see it, buy two.

The catch: it's a limited stock item that sells out quickly and doesn't always appear. Check in October and November.

2nd place: Glen Orchy 10 Year Old Speyside — 3.7/5

Price: ~£19 · ABV: 40% · Type: Single malt Speyside

Lidl's answer to Aldi's Glen Marnoch range, and a strong one. The 10-year age statement is genuine — the Scotch Whisky Regulations enforce this strictly — and at Speyside you're getting the fruity, light, approachable style that the region is known for. Green apple, light vanilla, a little oak on the finish.

This is better than most branded Speyside entry single malts sold for £30–35. Not as good as Glenfiddich 12, but it costs half the price. The Whisky Value Calculator puts it at around £0.68/unit of alcohol, which is exceptional for a 10-year-old single malt.

This is my recommended Lidl buy for everyday drinking.

3rd place: Glen Orchy Highland Single Malt — 3.3/5

Price: ~£16 · ABV: 40% · Type: Single malt Highland

Slightly more robust than the Speyside version — less fruit, more malt and cereal character. No age statement, which means the youngest component could be as young as three years. The spirit tastes young: a little harsh at the edges, lacking the smoothed-out development that three or four more years of oak would provide.

Still good value at £16 for a single malt. Better than the blends at the same price or lower. But if you're choosing between this and the Glen Orchy Speyside at a few pounds more, spend the extra.

4th place: Highland Earl Blended Scotch — 3.0/5

Price: ~£13 · ABV: 40% · Type: Blended Scotch

Perfectly serviceable. Light, smooth, inoffensive. Not as good as Aldi's Highland Black 8 at essentially the same price, which has the advantage of an age statement and a slightly more malt-forward character. Highland Earl is the mixing whisky: Coke, ginger ale, or the base of a Whisky Sour.

Benchmark comparison: scored identically to Famous Grouse in the blind tasting, which costs about the same and offers a more established flavour profile. Choose based on which you find more reliable; they're genuinely similar.

5th place: Duncarron Blended Scotch — 2.3/5

Price: ~£11.50 · ABV: 40% · Type: Blended Scotch

The budget option, and it shows. Harsh, grain-forward, with an unpleasant burn that the more expensive blends don't have. The 3-year minimum maturation means the spirit hasn't had time to integrate, and the balance of grain to malt tilts too far toward grain.

Save up the £2 and buy Highland Earl. The difference is significant.

6th place: Glencraig Whisky Liqueur — 2.0/5

Price: ~£9 · ABV: 28% · Type: Whisky liqueur

Not a fair comparison to the others — this is a sweetened whisky liqueur, not a straight whisky. At 28% ABV, it's diluted considerably. It tastes of honey and vanilla with a distant whisky background. If you want a whisky liqueur, Drambuie is a considerably better product at a higher price. Glencraig is for people who want something sweet and mild and don't want to spend much.

The value table

| Whisky | Price | £/unit of alcohol | Verdict | |--------|-------|------------------|---------| | Tullibardine 20YO | £40 | £1.32 | Exceptional — buy when available | | Glen Orchy Speyside 10YO | £19 | £0.68 | Buy regularly | | Glen Orchy Highland | £16 | £0.57 | Good value | | Highland Earl | £13 | £0.46 | Fine for mixing | | Duncarron | £11.50 | £0.41 | Skip | | Glencraig Liqueur | £9 | — | Different category |

How Lidl compares to Aldi

The short answer: Aldi wins at the bottom of the range (Highland Black 8 at £14 is better than anything Lidl does under £15), but Lidl wins at the top when the Tullibardine 20 Year Old appears.

For everyday buying, Aldi's Glen Marnoch Sherry Cask (£20) and Highland Black 8 (£14) are harder to beat. The Glen Orchy Speyside 10 (£19) is their nearest Lidl equivalent and it's excellent, but the Aldi Sherry Cask edges it on flavour.

If you shop at Lidl rather than Aldi, the Glen Orchy Speyside 10 is a very good regular buy. Check quarterly for the Tullibardine — it's the best supermarket whisky buy in the UK when it appears.

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Check the value of any bottle with the Whisky Value Calculator — Lidl's bottles are worth running through just to see how much cheaper they are per unit than equivalent named brands.

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• Single Malt vs Blended Scotch
• Whisky Value Calculator