As Christmas approaches, so do the special festive-themed alcoholic beverages.
Whilst many prefer to stick to the traditional mulled wine or a glass of bubbly over Christmas, recent years have seen a new tradition appear.
As more and more supermarket chains create festive-themed gin, taking inspiration from the season's tastes and smells and designs.
Such as budget budget-friendly brand Aldi, known for creating ‘dupes’ of branded products, the supermarket chain has created a line of affordable festive-themed gins and I got to try some.
Much like many other Brits, I enjoy a glass or two of gin and thought it would be interesting to try a new spin on the popular spirit.
Whilst I typically prefer a Dry or rhubarb and ginger-flavoured gin, I was excited to see what Aldi had in store.
Of course, you can’t attempt gin tasting on your own, so I got my nearest and dearest gin fans together to see what others had to say about Aldi’s new gin range.
Before I head into this review, I thought a little explanation of how each gin was rated would be worth mentioning.
We tried the gin on its own and then with a planned non-flavoured tonic, whilst considering design, taste and as it’s Christmas, whether you would give it to someone as a present.
Plus, in the spirit of Christmas, I’ve been extra helpful and even got the overall average based on the five gin ‘experts’ I got together to taste Aldi’s new gin range.
I tried Aldi’s new gin- Here’s what’s worth buying
I was lucky enough to try three of Aldi’s new gin flavours: Haysmith’s Cranberry and Clementine Gin, Haysmith's Sloe Gin and Infusionist Pomegranate and Cranberry Gold Flake Gin Liqueur.
Starting with the Sloe Gin, I will first admit that Sloe has never been my favourite flavour as I’ve always found the taste to be bitter and in some cases sour.
However, I wanted to go into this tasting with an open mind so tried my best to leave previous encounters with Sloe Gin behind.
On first taste, Aldi’s own Sole Gin was very warming on its own, with one member of my ‘gin team’ describing it as the “perfect spirit to warm up the bones”.
Adding it with some tonic, it became refreshing, and less strong but still kicked a punch and kept the strong yet sweet flavours.
I preferred Aldi’s Sole Gin with a dash of tonic, but I was overruled by the majority of the gin team liked it on its own and enjoyed the blackcurrant taste.
Moving on to the design of the bottle, it has a simple yet striking look, with berry vines all over and the gins' dark purple colour making it striking amongst any home bar shelf.
The Gin Team score: 28.5/50
Next onto Aldi’s Haysmith’s Cranberry and Clementine Gin, perfect for those who love the tangy and sweet taste of Clementine, this gin has it all.
One member of the gin team said they thought it “smells like Christmas” adding that it had "more a taste” than the Sloe Gin.
On its own, I wasn’t a big fan of the clementine taste and thought the cranberry could have been stronger.
Mixing it with tonic, the Cranberry and Clementine was still very prominent and somehow transformed from a Christmas feel to a more refreshing summer taste, helping it become the perfect all-year-round gin.
With a cork stopper, Aldi knocked the design out of the part with this gin, as the gin team said it “looked posh” and one added they would happily receive the bottle as a present.
The Gin Team score: 37/50
Last but not least, Aldi’s Infusionist Pomegranate and Cranberry Gold Flake Gin Liqueur.
This gin was unlike any others we tried, for starters it is a liqueur so by nature is not as strong as your traditional gin and is used as a mixer compared to a spirit.
On its own, the gin liqueur isn’t bitter and is nice and fruity but I thought the pomegranate was overshadowed by the cranberry.
Adding the liqueur to tonic water, I thought it tasted nice, however, a member of the Gin Team said it would taste nicer with some Prosecco, but sadly, there was none nearby.
The shiny star, or in this case, Christmas Tree, or the product, was the design of the bottle, in the centre stood a glass Christmas Tree surrounded by floating gold flakes.
The bottle was very pretty and got a 10/10 for design, with a clear agreement from the gin team that it ranked best for design compared to the two other Aldi gins we tried.
The Gin Team score: 26/50
You can buy all of Aldi’s Christmas gins in stores nationwide now.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here