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