Ben Bracken Speyside 40% ABV

The general consensus is that this Speyside bottling is from Tamnavulin, is bottled by the Clydesdale Whisky Co in Glasgow, and bottled at 40% ABV. #thewhiskeychaps

Appearance

Mid gold in colour, and the swirl line and legs are quite thick on my Glencairn glass. #thewhiskeychaps

Nose

When I poured this I got lots of chip shop batter, it’s calmed down a bit now, with pear drops, pink wafer biscuits, still a little batter thing going on. Hay, slightly floral, greengages, white pepper too. #thewhiskeychaps

Palate

For a 40% ABV dram the mouthfeel is pretty decent for me. It has a nice sweet/spicy combo going on. Stoned fruits, a little grapefruit pith, white pepper, cinnamon, a touch of Dijon mustard in there, and quite botanical. #whewhiskeychaps

Finish

Shortish in length, and definitely cloves, plums, espresso, some tannins, cherry tobacco, and black liquorice, I like the development tbh. #thewhiskeychaps

My thoughts

This “Speyside” bottling from Lidl was the first we tasted during a four Ben Bracken dram tasting. Initially the nose had lots of chip shop batter aromas, after letting it sit for 30 minuted these notes did recede. in general i thought the nose was pleasant, the mouthfeel was pleasant for the ABV. The palate offered flavours i enjoyed, but, as others on the tasting agreed, the palate is muted, faint.

This is a shame as it teased more, but didn’t reach those heights in my opinion. Now i will say that iv’e tasted many whiskies, from poor to excellent, and it was always going to be awkward reviewing a whisky at such a low ABV. I do think however that this would make a great mixer, and i can see it working as an entry level whisky, perhaps leading someone further into the world of whisky.

This whisky has it’s place, it’s not aimed at whisky folk like me, it’s not one i would personally purchase, but it’s a great price for folk new to whisky.

A big thank you goes out to @Jotterface, @pswhisky, @whiskytip, @mentaldrams and @DavidHaldane for joining us on our tasting this whisky was a part of.