I tried Bailey’s supermarket dupes – the smooth and creamy winner is less than half the price of the real thing

A GLASS of Bailey’s is a must for many of us at Christmas.

But can you enjoy the taste without splashing out on £16.50 for a bottle of the real thing? 

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We’ve tested supermarket own-brand versions of Irish cream liqueur from Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl, to see how they compare with Bailey’s.

For each one, we gave it a score out of ten for taste – including how close it was to the real thing. We also rated each bottle out of ten for value, taking into account the alcohol content (% ABV). 

Here’s how the Bailey’s dupes each scored out of 20...

Baileys original Irish cream liqueur

• £16.50 for 700ml (17% ABV)

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The original drink is a timeless classic: creamy and smooth with a warm, boozy aftertaste.

But at £16.50 per bottle (£2.36 per 100ml), it is more than three times the price of the cheapest imitation bottle we tested from Aldi.

• Taste: 10/10
• Value: 5/10
• Total: 15/20

Tesco Carthy’s country cream liqueur

• £6.70 for 700ml (12% ABV)

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Tesco’s cream liqueur tasted a lot like iced coffee. It also had a pungent, harsh alcohol smell and aftertaste – despite being one of the weakest versions we tried, at just 12 per cent ABV.

This was also one of the cheaper versions we tested, at just 96p per 100ml, but it showed.

• Taste: 4/10
• Value: 8/10
• Total: 12/20

Asda Extra Special blonde chocolate flavour cream liqueur

• £8 for 700ml (17% ABV)

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Asda’s closest version to Bailey’s creamy liqueur is its “blonde chocolate flavour” spirit.

We felt it had a strong taste of burnt sugar – like a sticky toffee pudding. It wasn’t bad but could be overpowering, and wasn’t much like the original.

At £1.14 per 100ml, this was one of the cheaper versions we tried.

• Taste: 7/10
• Value: 7/10
• Total: 14/20

Morrisons The Best Irish cream liqueur

• £16 for 1L (17% ABV)

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The Morrisons version was very close to the taste of original Bailey’s, but not quite as creamy and smooth.

It had a slightly harsher boozy taste – but if you served this at Christmas, guests would struggle to tell the difference.

Although it cost nearly the same as Bailey’s, at £16 per bottle, it came in a larger 1 litre size which meant it was better value for money – just £1.60 per 100ml.

• Taste: 8/10
• Value: 7/10
• Total: 15/20

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Irish Cream Liqueur

• £13 for 700ml (17% ABV)

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The Sainsbury’s liqueur was very thin and milky – a bit like weak tea. But it also had a pungent boozy taste and wasn’t as smooth as Baileys.

At £1.86 per 100ml, this was the most expensive supermarket product we tested. We didn’t rate it as highly as some of the cheaper versions. 

• Taste: 6/10
• Value: 6/10
• Total: 12/20

Aldi Ballycastle White Chocolate Cream

• £4.99 for 700ml (12% ABV)

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Aldi’s cream liqueur was thinner than Bailey’s and not as boozy, containing just 12 per cent ABV, compared to the 17 per cent ABV in Bailey’s.

But the taste was a good copy for the real thing – and it was less than a third of the price, at just 71p per 100ml.

• Taste: 8/10
• Value: 8/10
• Total: 16/20

WINNER Lidl Deluxe Irish cream liqueur

• £7.99 for 700ml (17% ABV)

7

The Lidl version was a very close copy for Bailey’s. It tasted rich, smooth and creamy – and had the same alcohol content, at 17 per cent ABV. 

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At just £1.14 per 100ml, this was as close as you can get to the real thing – for less than half the price. 

• Taste: 9/10
• Value: 8/10
• Total: 17/20