Aldi sees rush for rare single malt

Discount supermarket Aldi today began selling a 40-year-old whisky for £49.99 – sparking queues of shoppers well before branches opened.

More than 20 people were waiting outside the Goldthorn Hill branch in Wolverhampton to get their hands on the limited edition Glenbridge single malt whisky, which was made at a Scottish distillery in 1971.

But most left disappointed as the store only had six bottles of the rare whisky out of only 3,000 available in total. Among those who had to leave empty-handed was 58-year-old Cyril Morgan, from Marsh Close in Sedgley. The retired financial consultant said: "I read about this at the weekend and was hoping to add it to my whisky collection."

An early start for IT worker Rob Wasden, aged 33, from Osb-orne Road, Penn, proved to be worth it. He had queued since 6.30am and was one of the lucky ones. "I dare say I will be trying a bit at Christmas," he smiled.

Also successful was 54-year-old university worker Suresh Patel, aged 54, from Sedgley. "It was my birthday last week," he said. "I'm no connoisseur but for £50 it's worth a try."