What a name for a whiskey, The Wild Geese Irish single malt whiskey. There must be a story behind this. I went to investigate. The name Wild Geese in the Irish context has a long history.
The Catholic King James and the Protestant King William of Orange fought the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland.
William won the battle, and Patrick Sarsfield’s army was defeated. Following the Treaty of Limerick, William gave Sarsfield’s army a choice. Those that chose to live under English rule filed one way; others like Sarsfield and his followers turned the other way to board French ships to take them to France.
They took the name The Wild Geese in the hope and belief that this would be a temporary exile in Europe. The parting, however, proved permanent. Stripped of their authority and property, many of them found life in Ireland intolerable.
These soldiers served in various continental European armies in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. However, they never forgot their homeland and dreamt of one day returning to Ireland.
I choose the Irish Wild Geese Irish single malt whiskey especially for today as it is nearly Saint Patrick’s Day – the Patron Saint of Ireland. And with the history of this whiskey, a fitting choice for Whisky of the Week. I received this bottle as a gift from a friend visiting us from Bangalore, India.
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The Wild Geese Irish Whiskey Review
The sturdy square bottle, it is packaged in a bright orange box. It certainly stands out among other whiskies boxed in neutral colours.
COUNTRY: Ireland
ABV: 43%
COLOUR: Light gold.
NOSE: Layers of oak and wood. Also a bit of fresh fruit and spice.
PALATE: Toasted oak, spice, pepper and some floral notes. A bit of a mossy green note. It is not a sweet whiskey. It is full-bodied and smooth, easy-going whiskey. The spice is well-balanced with a hint of vanilla. There is a bit of citrus and more oak. It is a complex whiskey.
FINISH: The Wild Geese Irish whiskey has a long smooth finish that becomes sweeter with some floral notes and butter toffee.
RATING: EXCELLENT.
This whiskey has won many prizes, and I can understand why. It is nicely balanced, and I had a second glass. Interesting to note that you need to add water carefully to this Irish release. Adding water does not enhance or release extra flavours.
The whiskey tasted watered down when I added my usual splash of water. Only when I limited the water in the second glass, did the green and oaky notes came to the front.
As this is a spicy whiskey, there will be quite a few really good food pairings that will match nicely with this Irish release. A gold creamy Irish cheddar should make an excellent pairing. Also, on a winter’s day, a sweet potato gratin with caramelized onions should match the spicy nature and warm up a cold day.
I paired the Wild Geese with some Irish Dubliner cheese, and it made for a great pairing. The whiskey enhanced the cheese’s buttery nature, making it creamier and smoothed out the pepper notes. The Dubliner cheese enhanced the smooth and rich whiskey and lengthened an already amazing finish.
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