Tax and dealsData study
Are Black Friday whisky deals real? 2026
A Black Friday whisky deal is only real if it beats what the bottle cost in the weeks before: check one here.
8 weeks of recorded prices at the UK shops we check, set against each advertised deal
Example values from a hypothetical shop; enter your own.
Pick a bottle and enter the deal price.
Against the shelf prices we recorded at the UK retailers we check from 29 August 2026 to 23 October 2026 (8 collection days). A statement about our records, not a ruling on any advert.
Pick a bottle, type in the deal you have seen and its “was” price. We set it against the shelf prices we recorded for the same bottle at the UK retailers we check in the previous 8 weeks.
No advertised deals checked yet: we collect them from 24 November 2026 to 1 December 2026.
- Draft. Results follow the week after Black Friday (27 November 2026); we collect advertised deals from 24 November to 1 December.
- Our test compares each deal with what the same bottle cost at the UK shops we check in the 8 weeks before, not with the shop’s own “was” price.
- The rules: a “was” price should be a genuine, recent, usual selling price, and the ASA expects three months of price history to back it.
Source: CAP Code (UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising), section 3: misleading advertising, rules 3.17, 3.31, 3.38 and 3.39, retrieved 23 October 2026. Updated 23 October 2026. Free to reuse with a link to this page.
About this data: method, downloads and sources
How we did it
Collecting deals. From 24 November to 1 December 2026 we record advertised whisky deals from UK retailers’ own pages and from published Black Friday roundups: the shop, the bottle, the advertised price, any “was” price or saving, the date we saw it and the link. Each goes in one row of our deals file.
Matching. A deal counts only when we can match it to exactly the same bottle in our catalogue: same name, age, strength and size. We don’t guess near matches; anything we can’t match is listed as not checked.
The test. For each matched deal we take every in-stock shelf price we recorded for that bottle at the UK retailers we check in the 56 days before the deal was seen. Retailers that share an owner count as one shop. Delivery is excluded, because deals are advertised on shelf price.
- Genuine low: the deal is below every price we recorded in that window, by more than 1%.
- Same as recent: the deal is within 1% of the lowest price we recorded. You could have paid about the same in the previous 8 weeks.
- Above recent: the deal is more than 1% above a price we recorded. You could have paid less at a shop we check.
The “was” price. Separately, we count the collection days on which that “was” price was actually charged: by the same shop, when it is one we check, and by any shop we check.
Limits. Our refreshes run on irregular days, so every result states how many collection days its window holds; we never fill gaps. We check a subset of UK retailers, not all of them. A result is a statement about the prices we recorded. It is not a ruling on whether an advert broke the advertising rules, which is for the ASA.
Publication plan.
- 24 November to 1 December 2026: collect advertised whisky deals, with the date seen and the link.
- Throughout: keep our daily price refreshes running, so the 8-week window before each deal holds as many collection days as possible.
- Week after Black Friday (27 November 2026): run the check, review every match by hand, and publish the results here with the full deals file.
What the advertising rules say about savings claims.
UK adverts, including retailers’ own websites, are covered by the CAP Code, which the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforces.
- No false price advantage. Price comparisons must not mislead by falsely claiming a price advantage (rule 3.39), and must make the basis of the comparison clear (rule 3.38). Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion (rule 3.17).
- A “was” price must be real. CAP’s advice is that a reference price, whether a crossed-out “was” price or an implied one such as “save £10” or “30% off”, should be a genuine, established usual selling price.
- Recency and duration. The reference price should generally be the most recent price before the reduction, and should have been charged for longer than the promotional price. If a product spends longer at the “sale” price than at the “full” price, the sale price has become its usual price.
- Pricing history. The ASA expects an advertiser to be able to show at least three months of pricing history, including how long any in-between prices ran. It looks beyond the price charged just before the reduction: if prices have bounced up and down, a high point may not count as the usual price.
- Recommended retail prices. A comparison with an RRP is likely to mislead if the RRP is well above the price the product generally sells for.
- No false urgency. Adverts must not give materially inaccurate information about market conditions or availability to push a quicker purchase (rule 3.31).
Since 7 April 2025 the CAP Code has reflected the consumer protection rules in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Our check is narrower than any of this. It shows only what we recorded at the shops we check; the ASA decides whether a claim is misleading.
Download the data
Free to reuse with a link to this page.
Sources
- CAP Code (UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising), section 3: misleading advertising, rules 3.17, 3.31, 3.38 and 3.39, retrieved 23 October 2026
- CAP Executive, AdviceOnline: Promotional savings claims (updated 6 October 2026), retrieved 23 October 2026
Prices are the shelf prices we recorded at UK retailers on the dates shown and change daily. Uisge Beatha compares prices; it does not sell whisky or give investment advice. Please enjoy whisky responsibly: drinkaware.co.uk.