The Wild Blue is a new limited edition from Talisker. It underlines the distillery’s salty and smoky DNA with a 16-month finish in South African red wine casks, used in wineries near the Atlantic coast.
Like Talisker Wilder Seas, each bottle includes a £3 donation to the Blue Marine Foundation, which supports the restoration of coastal and marine habitats. The bottle is 100% recycled glass. I guess it gives you a better look at the E150 coloured spirit.
Talisker The Wild Blue (48,2%, OB 2025, Atlantic Coastal wine finish)
Nose: red fruits are easy to notice. Some juicy figs, sultanas and hints of raspberry ganache. This goes nicely along iodine and smoked bacon, mild ashes and hints of sweet wood spice. Black peppercorns. Red berry candy. Then fresh citrus notes and whiffs of menthol, as well as pipe tobacco in the background. A nice nose.
Mouth: instant black pepper – good. Then red fruits again, although less sweet than I expected. More towards cranberries, grapes and pickled lemons. Mid-palate a tangy winey note appears, along with a bitter edge. Then a hint of cough syrup, coastal smoke and poached pears. In the end the tannins and oaky grip becomes a tad harsh.
Finish: medium, on sweet smoke, black pepper, charcoal smoke and leathery dryness.
As you know red wine finishes start with a disadvantage in my book. On the nose this Talisker did convince me, but on the palate it becomes a bit too winey for my taste. At least the typical Talisker markers are strong enough to withstand the wine. Available from The Whisky Exchange for instance. I got a sample from Whiskysite.nl.