An alkaline with a voltage of 1.2 volt is mostly gone anyway. If it never has been used, and has dropped to 1.2 volt during storage, I would absolutely toss that one out.

I don't have much data to base my opinion on, and I very rarely had a leaking alkaline, but I believe that

a) leaking alkalines is a lottery. Brand or no-brand doesn't matter, or has only minor influence on the outcome.

b) Overall, quality has improved through better manufacturing processes. Which means the chances of loosing in the leak-lottery goes down, brand or non-brand.