Whipper Snapper Project Q Quinoa Whiskey

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