Tastes

Last week I was at Whipper Snapper Distillery on the outskirts of Perth, here in Western Australia. Before the cocktail class I had a tasting flight of the Wheat and Quinoa whiskies along with the Upshot, Upshot Cask Strength and Red Corn Upshot. Sadly, those last three were rushed. Fortunately, I live a stones throw from the distillery, I went back today and did another flight with a lot of time to sit, consider, and enjoy. If you feel like scrolling down a little you’ll find my notes on the Wheat and Quinoa that were really interesting liquids and worth the time to track down. The standard offerings from Whipper Snapper are their ‘Crazy Uncle Moonshine’ a new make white spirit, the Crazy Uncle Moonshine Barrel Aged, and then Upshot and Upshot Cask Strength. I added the Upshot Red Corn to the run and here we have todays five… Step three in the Whipper Snapper progression, two years and a day for the new make spirit in virgin American oak. Proudly sourcing 100% Western Australian grains: 80% corn, 10% malted barley and 10% wheat. Craft distilled and single barrel released. N: We have lost sight of the new make. Refreshingly interesting nose of perfumed wood (cedar/sandalwood), butterscotch (specifically butterscotch angel delight; if you know, you know). There is a texture to this nose like toffee cream, it feels thick. It’s not bright or vibrant but it still feels summery. P: Thick and sticky with a creamy fullness. All my favourite textures and buttery flavours of wooded Chardonnay are here and deliciously integrated with the sugar layer from a creme brûlée, some nutmeg, more toffee and caramel flavours. Moreish, easy, perhaps just a little intrusive kick for only 43%. F: Moderate. Clean and precise. A little tannic spice, vanilla and a soft fudge texture with enough sugar sweetness to give a maple syrup on pancakes feel. It doesn’t need it; but, if you want to add a few drops of water, or an ice cube, then the nose will push vanilla out strongly, the palate will get thicker and more wood forward (damn I love that butter) and there it will stay through the slightly shortened finish. Ok. I’m a fan. This is in essence Australian bourbon and I like that. I also like that I feel this is as close as you will get to turning breakfast maple pancakes into a seriously down-able liquid. Dangerous liquid. Approach with caution if you have nothing on later in the day, because I suspect you will be enjoying liberally. (Note that the picture for the Distiller entry is incorrect. The bottle shown is the first release, that will cost you upwards of AUD$800. The regular release bottle is as in my photo here, black and gold). Distiller whisky taste #118

Last week I was at Whipper Snapper Distillery on the outskirts of Perth, here in Western Australia. Before the cocktail class I had a tasting flight of the Wheat and Quinoa whiskies along with the Upshot, Upshot Cask Strength and Red Corn Upshot. Sadly, those last three were rushed. Fortunately, I live a stones throw from the distillery, I went back today and did another flight with a lot of time to sit, consider, and enjoy. If you feel like scrolling down a little you’ll find my notes on the Wheat and Quinoa that were really interesting liquids and worth the time to track down. The standard offerings from Whipper Snapper are their ‘Crazy Uncle Moonshine’ a new make white spirit, the Crazy Uncle Moonshine Barrel Aged, and then Upshot and Upshot Cask Strength. I added the Upshot Red Corn to the run and here we have todays five… This is number two and the natural progression for the Whipper Snapper spirit journey. N: Cleary the same liquid as the straight moonshine. The light delicate corn sweetness is apparent but a little of the harsher ethanol/acetone has been subdued. Now, there is the most delicate of touches from vanilla and fresh oak. I don’t know if it’s the effect of the moody lighting and lovely liquid colour but I swear I’m finding a soft brown sugar too. P: The same velvety thickness as the new make, but now with an added side helping of sugary stickiness that clings beautifully. Fresh oak with a vibrant tannic spice profile, corn sugar sweetness, enveloping gentle warmth. A little caramel-vanilla too. F: Medium-long. Softly warming with a toasty nutty bite and a slightly lingering sticky sweetness. The first barrel aged moonshine produced in Australia and aged in fresh American oak for a minimum of 6 weeks. I’m surprised at how only six weeks of contact with the barrel has developed the moonshine into an easily quaffable, surprisingly developed spirit. Again, perfect for sipping over ice or making into cocktails. This is approachable, has some character and avoids fancy wanky hipster influence. This gets the job done and it’s good at that. You will not find anything new or nuanced here. But, you will enjoy it. If you want to start someone on a whisky journey from other white spirits, this is surely the place to start. Distiller whisky taste #117

Last week I was at Whipper Snapper Distillery on the outskirts of Perth, here in Western Australia. Before the cocktail class I had a tasting flight of the Wheat and Quinoa whiskies along with the Upshot, Upshot Cask Strength and Red Corn Upshot. Sadly, those last three were rushed. Fortunately, I live a stones throw from the distillery, I went back today and did another flight with a lot of time to sit, consider, and enjoy. If you feel like scrolling down a little you’ll find my notes on the Wheat and Quinoa that were really interesting liquids and worth the time to track down. The standard offerings from Whipper Snapper are their ‘Crazy Uncle Moonshine’ a new make white spirit, the Crazy Uncle Moonshine Barrel Aged, and then Upshot and Upshot Cask Strength. I added the Upshot Red Corn to the run and here we have todays five… We start at the begining. N: ethanol/acetone presence with a very light sugary sweetness that hints at the corn mash. Crisp, clean and very unobtrusive. With tasting a lightly toasted grain note lifts out. P: can water be thick? This has an intriguing mouthfeel, silky or velvety as if drinking thick fresh water. Every so slightly herbal like fresh fennel with a sensation of beeswax. F: ever so light and surprising moderate length. Waxy again, pleasingly drying with a non distinct sweetness. 100% West Australian Grains: 80% corn, 10% malted barley and 10% wheat. This is the Whipper Snapper new make spirit that eventually ends up as everything else. It is simplicity bottled. Crisp and fresh there are no obtuse or intrusive notes. This is excellently made. Whistle clean and with no notion that this is bootleg ‘moonshine’. Rather, top flight new make spirit. The only faults I find are that it lacks defined flavours that stand on their own, but that’s entirely the point here (I think), and there is just a little harshness on the nose. Sure, it’s not intended for sipping, but if you wanted to; you absolutely could. What I suspect would make a brilliant base to any cocktail. A great start to the flight of five. Distiller whisky taste #116

Picked up a four pack of 50 ml Glenlivet samplers for AUD$30. Bargain. No expectations of grandeur but about time I knocked off a couple of common place bottom to 1st shelf bar offerings… now heading into number four I have been thoroughly underwhelmed by The Glenlivet. I’m hoping beyond hope that a NAS partially rum cask finished offering can somehow claw back some points… N: Light and suggests a thin palate will follow. There is honey as the obvious note, a little banana (the dried chip variety), and pear/apple sweetness. Meh, unremarkable. P: Didn’t see that coming. So so soft it feels like cool fresh water. Brown sugar, malty sweetness, some vanilla. Banana and coconut are barely present, but I do like the influence they have. I imagine if you really diluted some Malibu you might find a similar level of muted coconut. You could easily drink this by the glug, it is so soft and inoffensive as to be dangerous. F: Medium. Brown sugar, a little spiced sweetness. Unremarkable again. Right, maybe Glenlivet just isn’t for me. Maybe it is just a simple distillate that hits a middling ground of acceptability and tries to do no more? This Caribbean cask is as underwhelming as the 12 and offers barely a hint more novelty than the Founders Reserve. As for the other three Glenlivet offerings I have tried tonight there is nothing inherently wrong with this. I think the issue I have is that I want to drink good whisky. With a death in the family this week I am harshly reminded that life is too short for bad whisky. [Pictured here with a 350-300 million year old Phonolite from Traprain Law in the East Lothians of Scotland. This rock is part of a volcanic plug, the choked up neck of an ancient volcano. The name phonolite is derived from the ancient greek word for ‘sounding stone’ because of the sound it makes if hit; and, gives rise to the English name ‘clinkstone’]. Distiller whisky taste #115

Picked up a four pack of 50 ml Glenlivet samplers for AUD$30. Bargain. No expectations of grandeur but about time I knocked off a couple of common place bottom to 1st shelf bar offerings, although now at 15 years old and a retail price of ~$110 (the price point of Port Charlotte 0 for me locally) I’m starting to have expectations… N: There is richness and depth here that were just simply absent in the FR and 12 before it. Wood tannins are obvious and powerful, but not overstated. A little acidity in the form of a pear or apple juice. Syrupy sweetness a little pineapple maybe (unexpected) and a little hint of vanilla. P: Thick and creamy this has a full mouth filling body. There is a fudgey-sugary sweetness in the foreground with creamy oak to the back that compliment a general pear and malt note. Ever eaten Kellogg’s All Bran cereal? Well I am there right now. Vanilla, yep; check. There’s a little baking spice, clove and pepper, possibly cinnamon also. A surprising amount of complexity after the Founders Reserve and 12. F: Medium. Slightly tannic and drying. Pepper. Maybe, just maybe; desiccated coconut? Nothing exceptional but leaps and bound more interesting than the 12 and better delivered with more pronounced flavours than the FR. These types of barrels French Limousin Oak are typically destined for Cognac maturation. I can’t help but think that this liquid would have been better if the cognac had hit the barrel first. Maybe, if things were better integrated and softened slightly there might also be a development of the profile. Is it possible to rush 15 years? I think this a pretty entry level version of a 15 year old whisky, nothing to write home about but good none the less. I will have forgotten about this by the morning though, and thats a shame for 15 years. [Pictured here with an approximately one billion year old eclogite from Glenelg on the west coast of Scotland; one of the few global examples of Precambrian ultra high pressure metamorphism. This rock is in essence a 50:50 mix of dark green omphacite and red garnets. Delicious] Distiller whisky taste #114

Picked up a four pack of 50 ml Glenlivet samplers for AUD$30. Bargain. No expectations of grandeur but about time I knocked off a couple of common place bottom to 1st shelf bar offerings… N: Toast, sparsely buttered toast. I find some honey, a little yeasty malt and acidic pear for some sweetness. The toasty tones though are dominant and have muted pretty much everything else I try to find. I think the nose is very much too light in character to have such a dominant single note. That said, its a good single note. Does anyone not like the smell of buttered toast? P: Fairly thin with a little oiliness that holds to the palate just slightly. Buttery malt forward with a little sweetness from generic orchard fruit. Quickly turns to peppery oak with a background of bitterness. The flavours here lean towards a drying sweetness. Clean and well defined, but shallow and simple. Maybe it’s me that finds little, or maybe little is offered. I’m inclined to think it’s the latter. F: Medium. Drying and pepper rich with a little twang of barley sugar sweetness. There is something hiding in the back too, I don’t know what it is it’s an odd sour fruit with a creamy feel to it, is it an apple flavour? Odd. Overall there is nothing particularly bad here. But nothing really good either. It feels barely more than one dimensional and is overshadowed by just about everything in its class (maybe not Loch Lomond 12, damn that stuffs bad). Whilst this 12 year old version offers well delivered malt flavours and some general sweetness, that are perfectly acceptable; I find the whole offering less interesting and only as well delivered as the Founders Reserve which apparently has replaced this in some markets. Distiller whisky taste #113

Picked up a four pack of 50 ml Glenlivet samplers for AUD$30. Bargain. No expectations of grandeur but about time I knocked off a couple of common place bottom to 1st shelf bar offerings… N: Sweet and with a little sharp sourness, almost oxidised vinegary-wine. Bright orange zest, a little toffee and a slightly funky malt. Some chocolate is there as is some generic orchard fruit juice and a touch of honey. The more I dig into the funky malt the more I find it verges on dustiness and acridity, like rotten fruit. There may be a little acetone buzz too. P: Thin and watery and with a little ethanol burn I wouldn’t have expected for 40% ABV. Generically fruity and sweet with plenty of malt and brown sugar. Theres a little chocolate-toffee and a late creamy texture. A fairly lacklustre palate leaning towards insipid. The redemption comes at the end of the dram where I have managed to find a little tannic presence that gives something of weight to the overall experience. F: Medium. Toffee cream and maybe a dried fruit sweetness that exits through lingering ethanol warmth and a bitterness that creeps in unexpectedly. I understand that this is a replacement of the Glenlivet 12 in some markets (seemingly not the Australian one though). If that is the case then there are obvious competitors, some of which I have had and would likely prefer over this (Glenfiddich 12 is the obvious one), otherwise there are a plethora of entry level NAS offerings to choose from. What we seem to have here is an inoffensive, forgettable entry level crowd pleaser for the less discerning whisky fan, whisky newbie, or cocktail mixer. If you have a distillery preference, then absolutely go ahead and get this as a (boring) run of the mill every day dram, but for me though…. pass the Monkey Shoulder. [Pictured here with a 320 million year old lump of essexite from Craigleith Island (nr. Edinburgh) in Scotland. If you have ever seen the winter olympics then you’ve probably seen this rock as since 2006 this rock, from this six hectare island, is the only rock used for curling stones.] Distiller whisky taste #112.

This is now my fourth Talisker. Hot off the heels of the 10, 2021 Special Edition 8 “Sea Fury”, and the 18; I only have expectations of further wonderment from within this little 30 ml tasting bottle. At this point in my whisky education/journey I am a firm fan of the Scottish Isles and Skye’s tempestuous offerings are no exceptions. The consistent theme of depth and brine take me to a place of an old lighthouse keeper watching the waves batter the coast. Named after the latitudinal location of the distillery, Talisker 57° North is a no-age-statement single malt that was released in 2008, initially as a travel exclusive, but has been discontinued. Despite knowing I will never likely drink this again, I was none the less excited at the opportunity. N: I was expecting a stormy smack, but to my surprise this is calm, soft, and warming. Undeniably rich though, there is some sweetness like a caramel biscuit (think Biscoff). The slightest chocolate, honey, and a fresh muddled peppermint herbal note. Of course, there is the Talisker brine with slightly mineralic ashy cured meat smoke. A vaguely fresh oyster maritime smell wafts through. P: Oh, interesting and unexpected again. Like a thin syrup the arrival is coating and powerful. Sweetness, salivating sweetness of gooey creamy caramel turns to peppery-chilli peat that absolutely explodes with layers of buttery popcorn and possibly some apple/pear juice. Everything is vibrant and fills the palate completely. F: Medium-long. Surprisingly fresh with a menthol like cleansing, a light brine and maybe candied lemon vibrancy. A few drops of water stretches things out, brings maltiness a little forwards and accentuates the chilli. Nothing really added, nothing taken away. This is powerful stuff. No surprises, it is a Talisker. It is surprisingly juicy and moreish, but it’s also simple. There are layers but they are the same layers I have found in the other three Taliskers I have tasted on here. Those layers are clean, clear, and sharply defined, but; I feel here there is a lack of uniqueness perhaps. I thought the 57% ABV would unlock something new. Whilst I find elements of the T18 and Sea Fury 8 on the nose this is not as distinct as either (but wonderful all the same). Where the palate of the 18 has orange peel and chocolate, the Sea Fury 8 and 10 have bacon, baking chocolate and earthy minerality. Overall I enjoyed this, it is “better” than the 10, slightly more refined, but not as special as other Taliskers for the same price point. [Pictured with a rather sizeable lump of the Campo Del Cielo nickel-iron meteorite from ~1000 km northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is a fragment of a meteorite that impacted 4000-5000 years ago and covered an area of 3x19 km and yielded 100 tonnes of material to date. Given that these can’t be “produced” anymore (illegal to remove from Argentina) I thought this rock was appropriate for a discontinued travel retail whisky] Distiller whisky tasting #111

This is an updated tasting. I first had this limited edition (~3000 bottles) in an event offered by Australian “The Whisky Company” under the guise of “Age of Distinction Isle of Arran virtual tasting”. The tasting had seven 15 ml samples, Arran 10, 18, 21, 25, 15 Bordeaux, this 15 Argonne, and a Machrie Moor. As the sixth sample of the night, and under the romantic notion of something very rare I think I may have been overly generous with the meagre sample I tried. I loved the Argonne on the night and wanted to explore it more, so tracked down a bottle. The original tasting was from a sample contained in a plastic/foil juice bag. My retaste of the Bordeaux 15 had me raise the questions: will 15 ml ever be sufficient to actually taste and emote with a whisky, and (2) what is the effect of juice bagging a whisky sample over glass bottling? I hope to have those resolutely answered shortly. Before I open this bottle I must give credit to the packaging. This is probably the best packaging I have seen for a whisky. The bottle and casing is perfectly in keeping with all the other rebranded Arran’s. A simple tube, a clean precise simple bottle, brail, the stylised map of the island with the large still and two golden eagles; lovely. But this case is rock hard, with a lovely tactile sugar-paper type external covering and internal soft fabric lining. The lid a beautiful coaster that locks tightly into the case. Just lovely to see this care and detail. Anyway, onwards. The liquid coming out of the bottle is as impressive looking as the cask. A beautiful pale copper colour that leaves viscous honey like legs trailing down the inside of my glass. N: Thick with fruity wine, stewed apples, aromatics in the form of jasmine tea or old cedar moth balls. Lovely citrus like you would find in an oil air freshener diffuser. The slightest honeyed malt can be found too. Rich and oozing character nothing is overly dominant, everything balances and works together. The nose is so much better than I remember. It seems to accomodate an overly zealous sniff too without the relatively high ABV (53.5%) becoming even remotely known. P: Soft, delicate, and refined. The first sip is cautious but slowly builds its presence. An initial creamy apple or pear is wrapped with honey and malt. A velvety mouth feel takes over. The oaks presence is found as delicate buttery tannin which is perfectly juxtaposition against the prickle of Arran’s staple ginger note. The creamy richness is probably where i found ‘strawberries and cream hard candies” last time around. It’s better than that its really supple leather, tropical fruit and chardonnay. This is good. Its very good. But I am not yet blown away like I was before. F: Long. A satisfying development of ginger, honeyed malt, and a reappearance of the jasmine tea florals I found on the nose. A delicate end with nothing detracting. A few drops of water and the malt profile of the nose is slightly brought out, a little ginger develops and the jasmine tea strengthens. The palate, with water, follows the nose honeyed malt takes over and the ginger becomes a little aggressive. Citrus is more noticeable and some of the creamy leathery texture is lost. The finish is seemingly unaffected by water. First, I am convinced that little foil juice bags should not be the carriers of precious liquids. This is not the same liquid I drank four months ago. Nor was the Bordeaux 15. Whisky belongs in glass. Trust me, I’m a doctor. I’ll hear no more on the matter. In kind 15 ml is not enough to take anything seriously. A minimum of 30 ml is needed to even approach a whisky (unless it’s at the lower end of the food chain, crap tastes like crap in any volume). I am convinced of as much here. Overall I think this is maybe the most interesting Arran expression of the now twelve I have tried. Is it the best one, tough to say. I think I need a bigger glass pour of the 18, 21, and 25 to make that call. I know I wont buy this again, not only for its rarity, but I don’t think the cost is justified. Whilst the Argonne is very well made, balanced, nuanced, delicate, and all around wonderful stuff I am not captivated by it. My imagination is not snared and I am not transported away from the world around. I am standing by this for my highest ratings now from where I said it on the Lagavulin 12 recently. Previously I rated the Argonne at 5.0/5.0. Now, I temper that, and bring it back to a still very good 4.5/5.0. 
*** 7th July 2022 Sixth 15 ml sample of the night (6/7) N: a little bit of spirit, stewed apples, jasmine tea, woody notes. P: tropical fruit, pear juice, fresh and vibrant, oak comes across like a wooded chardonnay, light citrus, strawberry and cream hard candies. F: long warmth. oaky, baking spice, refreshing and clean. The balance on this whisky is sublime. The second it hits your mouth you know it’s something rarified and special. The oakiness comes and goes to let all the flavours shine on their own merits. This dram showcases the best of the arran spirit without overshadowing or being overshadowed by the incredible wood. Absolutely raging that this isn’t available in Australia.... but I was able to land one of the ~3000 bottles in auction. I suspect a long time will pass before I open it though... Distiller whisky taste #42

There are only really two whisk(e)y distilleries to be taken seriously in Western Australia. Theres Limeburners that operate out of the far south of the state and then there is metropolitan Whipper Snapper. I always liken Whipper Snappers core line up to American Bourbon. After all WS utilise a predominantly corn mash bill and age their spirit in virgin American Oak for 2 years and a day. The standard offerings from Whipper Snapper are their ‘Crazy Uncle Moonshine’ a new make white spirit, the Crazy Uncle Moonshine Barrel Aged, and then Upshot and Upshot cask strength. Recently they have started playing with different wood finishes including a French oak and a Hungarian oak, and made a few different grain whiskyes including a red corn, a wheat, and this quinoa whiskey. Shockingly, until 18 months ago my lab was less than 100 m further along the street from here… but last night I went for my second tour of the place since 2018. Got a tasting flight of Quinoa, Wheat, Cask Strength and Red Corn. Sadly, I was rushed to finish my last two before the cocktail class I was there for started. So I’m not going to give notes on those two just now. I will have to head back soon with more time on my hands and do those again. For now though, here is Whipper Snapper Project Q. Like the WS Wheat Whiskey this is another example of local, homegrown, provenance driven whiskey crafting. Being only the worlds second quinoa whiskey and the first and only(?) in Australia there was a lot riding on this for the WS team. Quinoa is almost prohibitively expensive, almost twice the cost of corn, so they had to get this right. The mash bill here is 65% quinoa, 25% corn and 10% malted barely. The quinoa is from the Western Australian wheat belt, from near the home town of the owners in Narrogin, and represents the first commercially grown Australian quinoa grain. Matured for four years in refill American white oak barrels that previously held their Upshot liquid. N: Very earthy with freshly bailed green hay. Similar to the wheat whiskey there is a dusty grain reminiscent of the bottom of a bag of porridge oats. There is also a little herbaceous green vegetal note. Whilst interesting I think the nose actually smells dirty. I am on an absolute knife edge for liking versus disliking the nose. I’ll be fair to it and call it ‘challenging’. P: A nutty bite is delivered by a oily mouth feel. This is confusing, sitting somewhere in the spectrum of all grains I guess. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was rye with baking spices and a little caramel. But things do go further, there isn’t a smoke here, but there is a wonderful burnt toast char that gets you thinking about smoke and maybe turns to a leathery or tobacco box profile. I wasn’t sure, its confusing. At the back end though there is some lovely Turkish delight rose water or raspberry jelly sweets. Not only did it add that floral note, but sweetness and a textual element of chewiness, literally like a jelly sweet. Theres a little tannin and dryness but also some earthy granularity that was felt on the nose beforehand. F: Medium-short. There is come creamy mouthfeel to the exit with a little herbaceous and peppery twang. Maybe some lingering charry ashiness? Well. That was full on. Big, bold, complex. Too complex maybe. I’m not sure everything is as well integrated as it should be and the quinoa clearly adds earthiness which is great, but here, feels to far on the side of dirty. I suspect there is something here that people will love. It’s not for beginners and I don’t think it is for me either. In my rubbish opinion there needs to be better balance to the mash bill or a better casking process to tone things down and mellow some things out. I think WS have made a good effort at doing something different. They have focused on a simple premise; locally sourced, homegrown simplicity as they do for all their production. Here though, I think they just went a bit off track with 65% quinoa and missed the mark where the equivalent wheat whiskey was right on the money. Undoubtedly worth trying, it is as unique a whiskey as you will likely ever experience. Unless you love it though, AUD $220 is 220 too much for a 500 ml novelty. Price is for 500 ml Distiller whisky taste #110