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Queen Margot 8 Years

That "famous" Lidl winner of World Whisky Awards

4 1258

RReview by @RikS

21st Jul 2019

1

Queen Margot 8 Years
  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    58

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  • Brand: Queen Margot
  • ABV: 40%

So, having been amused about the (fake, well, at least let's say 'twisted') news that was permeating the web recently about Lidl's "best whisky in the world" being the 8 years old Queen Margot... I happened to actually pass a Lidl today, and thought I'd pick up a bottle out of curiosity. And well, it's priced £14.

It's blended, bottled (as you'd expect) at 40% and "oak aged" for 8 years. So, let's see...

The colour is pretty much gold. Let's not be finicky about E150 and non-chill filtration, ok.

The nose isn't unpleasant, nor particularly interesting. Pretty young, but nothing solventy and thankfully an absence of any cleaning products. Some malt sweetness. Some bourbon. Green apple peels. Actually, slightly reminiscent of that typical pot still nose (may the Irish forgive me). A second nosing gives Glenmorangie 10.

The palate it's pretty light on the attack, with some baking spice tingling around. Malt. Actually, not that bad viscosity, but there's not much taste to it. The mid-palate is pretty sweetish but then gives way to a slightly bitter oakiness.

The finish is short, at least whatever pleasure was there... and then gives way to that bitter oakiness that comes in spades. If the nose was ok and the palate wasn't too bad - if bland and nondescript - then the finish is certainly the weakest point. It isn't good... leaves you with two options I suppose: 1) have another sip and try to hide the finish with a new mouthful, 2) wishing you hadn't drunk it at all (fear not, I'm opting for the latter).

Overall impression and score: it was fun to try this one, and for £14 I've satisfied my curiosity. It may prove good to have this bottle in the case there's a BBQ marinade that requires whisky, or maybe a cake recipe. But, I won't have another dram of it. And frankly, even if the price is low... given that e.f. Glenmorangie 10 is often on sale for £25, or a Laphroaig 10 for £28... it's hard to even use the price as the redeeming feature.

12 comments

@RianC
RianC commented

@RikS - Thanks for 'taking one for the team' as they say! It will likely be a Lidl while before I try this one then . . . I'll get me coat blush

5 years ago 4Who liked this?

R
RikS commented

@RianC Yeah... a bit like going to the dentist. Maybe not as bad as one might have imagined or feared... but certainly not a place one would ever rush back to, or revisit if avoidable.

5 years ago 3Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

Glad to hear it’s better than Lambertus

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

R
RikS commented

So, I was curious to return to this one to see if leaving it air for a few months would create any surprising miracles!?

Well, it certainly did not.

If anything, it's thinned out even more and effectively disintegrated completely. It tastes like water... with a dash of ethanol for the alcohol.... mixed up with some whisky-esters for 'taste'. And, were you to leave the glass stand for an hour, I bet you the above imaginary three components would nicely segregate into visible layers in your Glencairn, like oil and water.

However, curiosity HAS been satisfied.

5 years ago 3Who liked this?

@RianC
RianC commented

@RikS - I was gifted a bottle of this last week laughing

Out of interest, do you ever drink blends of a more budget nature? If so, how does this compare to others you may have had? I'm not sure if it won its award recently or a few years ago but I would like to try it alongside some of my go-to blends to see how it holds up.

I guess I'll always have a soft spot for cheap blends but I have come across some that were undrinkable neat ...

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

@RianC like JW red?

5 years ago 0

@RianC
RianC commented

@Nozinan - On last time's evidence, yes, 100%! Although I remember chugging my way through a few bottles in Asia when surreptitious swigs from the bottle on night buses helped alleviate the lack of comfort!

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge commented

@RianC, that reminds me of high school smirk

I don’t mind Ballantine’s, in fact I like it... a lot.

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

R
RikS commented

@RianC I have, and have tried, a few blends such as JW green, JW black and Ballantine's. I think I'd rather have any of those to this... And with e.g. the Glenmorangies and HP12 readily on sale here for around £25 (I think the Queen M was around £20...) I don't think I can think of many redeeming arguments... :)

5 years ago 0

@OdysseusUnbound
OdysseusUnbound commented

@paddockjudge I’m also a fan of Ballantine’s. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed my last bottle. Lots of gentle, heathery peat, light smoke, and bursting with ripe pear notes. All for about $25 on sale.

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@RianC
RianC commented

@RikS - No, the price argument vis-a-vis £25 for a malt such as Aberlour 10, HP 12 and especially Old Pulteney 12 against a blend at or around £20 is a good one to make. There's a whole host of malts one can buy cheaper than a standard to decent blend these days. Whether they are any better is, of course, a very personal matter ...

Still, I like the taste of a good blended Scotch - I think being a bourbon drinker there's something about the corn element in with the malt that works for me. If you ever get the chance, I'd recommend Adelphi's Blend the 'Private Reserve'. An excellent blend, in my opinion, of course smile

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

R
RikS commented

@RianC Thank you, I'll certainly keep an eye open for that one! And, for the record, I'm in no way opposed to blends (be they blended malts or with grain) but hope to think I'll judge only by taste so if I find something I like...

That said, I suppose the one caveat would be that I often nowadays like my drinks 46% and above, and with a strong character... and there seem not too many blends that tick those boxes?

5 years ago 1Who liked this?