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 quinoa, and this wheat whisky. 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 Wheat Whiskey. I am led to believe that this is Australia’s first wheat whiskey. I suspect it may also be the only Australian Wheat Whisky. The owners of WS have strong links to Western Australian agriculture and they source their wheat from what is essentially their home towns given them wonderful provenance of this whiskey. In this bottle is the result of distilling a Hard Red Winter Wheat from near Narrogin in Western Australia’s wheat belt. The grain is high in protein and offers silky soft, honey rich characteristics. Aged for longer than the normal offerings, this clocks in at four years from Char #3 Virgin American White Oak barrels. N: Dust. The first and most obvious note is quite literally dust. Open a fresh bag of porridge oats, the meally dust at the bottom of the bag; thats what we open on here. I don’t dislike it, but its odd enough that I can’t quite get around it. Moving past dust there is a hay barn (I guess that’s a different kind of dust) but a little floral perfume wafts in. It’s very delicate and more than a whisper about it will scare it off. Brown sugar adds a little sweetness like the back of my wife baking shelves in the pantry. The dust is strong here, but behind that is something very delicate and quite refined. P: Not what I was expecting. Thick, luscious, and creamy with a little oiliness that sticks to the mouth. There is a big dollop of rum and raisin ice-cream, lashings of maple syrup, vanilla and caramels, a little perfumed wood and a little baking spice of some description, I’m not sure quite what. Nothing is subtle, nothing works on its own. Everything blends together, and whilst not overly complex or deep, everything is well done and works together excellently. F: medium-short. Thick and coating. Churned honey (almost a savoury rather than sweet honey), dome dried fruit and a little cherry. I think WS have done a great job here. They have focused on a simple premise; locally sourced, homegrown simplicity. No getting carried away with 27 different grains all malted separately and batted under a shooting star whilst Neptune is in retrograde. None of this pretentious crap that seems to be gripping Australia. A single grain, a single high quality cask. Leave it alone for four years in a warehouse on the edge of the city, let it experience temperature of 0 C to +40 C and enjoy what comes out in good company. I think this ranks easily alongside Archie Rose Malted Rye as an outstanding grain whisky. Perhaps not quite as exciting and flavourful, but still very good none the less albeit an extra $20 more expensive. I highly recommend giving this a shot (pun intended) if you get the chance. Also, for what its worth they were awards the world whisky award this year for best single grain, single cask. Make of that what you will. Distiller whisky taste #109