Aldi’s bottle is beautiful to look at, the snow covered trees and sparking gold flakes in the gin giving the drink the ultimate festive feeling. Add to it that it lights up - with two different settings - it's certainly impressive.

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 M&S bottle looks beautiful sat on a drinks table at Christmas. It lights up by pushing a button underneath and stays lit for over 30 seconds. Once shaken the gold leaf really does make it look like a magical snow globe as it floats around, shimmering in the light. On its own, I wasn’t a big fan of the clementine taste and thought the cranberry could have been stronger. While the Aldi taste wasn't awful, I would drink it again - but when teamed with a mixer it seemed to lose a little flavour. To make it fair, I sampled the gin straight, as well as with lemonade (my choice of mixer). When it was straight the clementine taste was strong, however I still wouldn't be able to drink it straight.READ MORE: We tried Christmas candles from Marks and Spencer, Yankee & Home Bargains but only one scored top marks Aldi’s gin was very sweet. Maybe too sweet, but enjoyable nonetheless. Mixed with lemonade the gin was very smooth and flavourful, so much so that it was almost too easy to drink. On just looks, then the M&S bottle is the most attractive to look at. And once finishing the bottles, would make a lovely Christmas decoration. I tried the liqueur on its own and was pleasantly surprised. It didn't taste too much of alcohol, more a sweet drink. John Coldham, IP Partner at law firm Gowling WLG, said: “M&S is taking a forthright approach to protecting its IP this year, against Aldi in particular. We have seen a number of clients choose to challenge Aldi’s aggressive approach to taking inspiration from others, and M&S is doing the same. The huge press interest in the earlier dispute between M&S and Aldi about chocolate cakes called Colin and Cuthbert has not deterred M&S from taking action again.

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 supermarkets have launched their popular Christmas gin liqueur bottles. Both have lights at the base and edible gold flakes within the liquid. This case is about design rights, a commonly forgotten but very effective IP right in protection against copycats. Most cases against Aldi are settled before trial, but with some notable exceptions, with Aldi having won and lost some high-profile disputes in recent years. M&S will be hoping that its strong action against Aldi will discourage further copycat products and allow M&S to retain distinctiveness and return on its investment in new product development.One member of the gin team said they thought it “smells like Christmas” adding that it had "more a taste” than the Sloe Gin. However, I wanted to go into this tasting with an open mind so tried my best to leave previous encounters with Sloe Gin behind. If there's one thing that we all love in the run up to Christmas, it's all the festive food and drink on sale. Read more: I tried mince pies from Sainsbury's, Aldi, Tesco, M&S, Morrisons and Waitrose - and there was a clear winner

Marks and Spencer’s version arrived on the scene a few years ago, with shoppers desperate to get their hands on the stunning bottle - and others going as far as to collect all the different flavours to create a collection. When you press the light underneath, the bottle glows a glorious bronze/gold colour - with the light reflecting off the flakes. 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”.

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I popped the cork in the bottle and I immediately the sweet smell of clementine's hits you. Gin is my choice of tipple, however one thing that could put you off is the strong smell. But this was much different.

Everyone loves a drink at Christmas, so I decided to put two bottles of the gins to the test. To keep it fair, I tried both clementine flavours to see which really was the best. 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. M&S has a proud history as a leading British innovator and for over 136 years customers have turned to M&S for unique, original, quality products – conceived, created and developed by us working with our trusted suppliers and produced to the highest standards,” said an M&S spokesman. The bottle’s dome shape gives it the illusion of a snow globe, but it's the tiny gold flakes floating about that really sell it.

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The gold flakes seemed finer here too - but there was more. However you needed to give it a real good shake to see the effect.