Blackstone is the name given to the Christmas special edition bottling of whisk(e)y released each year by the Aldi (Süd) chain of supermarkets.

The name stays the same, but each year the contents will differ, as will the age and even the country of origin of the whisky.

Blackstone 18y, Christmas 2010, 40%

Highland single malt whisky

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€ (€17)

Dram-atics Advent-urous live review

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich gold, light amber

Nose: Surprisingly aromatic with what I can only describe as floral perfumed wood, which increases in intensity as the minutes in the glass pass. This eventually leads to slightly malty nuts with some (unidentifiable to me) underlying fruit.

Palate: Sadly doesn't quite live up to the nose as it does have some dry nuts, but it is noticeably thin or watery and expands into hints of dried grasses and eventually turns a little oily too.

Finish: Long and floral, with an emphasis on the floral.

Overall Impression: Well, I normally quite like lighter and more floral whiskies, but somehow this one more or less exactly failed to please the palate. Perhaps it's the 40%, perhaps it wasn't the best cask in the warehouse, who knows? It just left me slightly disappointed.

But wait a moment, let's look at price, this was a mere €17 for an 18y single malt and it is drinkable, just not a classic, but worlds better than some I tried this year! If all else fails; Hot Toddy anyone?