Nose: Deep and expressive cereal aromas, molasses, port wine, vanilla, oak wood. There are the baking spices and minty-menthol notes typical of rye spirit, but they are very elegant and rounded. If it were not for the presence of these spice notes the nose would be very like that of a sherry matured scotch whisky. There is a slight floral note and a faint suggestion of wet paper, but it does not spoil the nose. 9/10 Palate: A very interesting combination of rich cereal flavours and sparkling bright rye spices (clove, fennel, cardamom and most notably caraway). The palate is initially sweet then gains heat and intensity in the early development with ginger showing through, but finally turns sweeter and more sophisticated in the later palate with orchard fruit emerging. The texture is creamy and oily. 8.5/10 Finish: Medium/Long. Fruity rye spice that fades into sweet-and-sour cereal. There is a note of mint and wintergreen in the aftertaste together with a briny taste. There is just a hint of cardboard, which was the single questionable characteristic I noticed. 8/10 After the two previous Whipper Snapper whiskeys I tasted I was almost dreading this one, but in fact it turned out to not only be the best of the samples by far but a very good dram full stop. There have been several Australian rye whiskeys that have gained praise over the last few years but until now the only one that has really impressed me has been the Archie Rose Malted Rye. As luck would have it I have a bottle of that open at the moment so I was able to taste it in comparison with this whiskey. It is a close thing but I still prefer the Archie Rose. It is more balanced and complete and the profile as a whole is “deeper”, more polished and just a tad sweeter. The aromas of the Whipper Snapper are lighter and sharper but that’s just a difference in profile and not one of quality. On the whole Whipper Snapper compares very well and I’m rating it just one percentage point lower than the Archie Rose Rye. (As a comparison I rated Rittenhouse Rye at 85/100 and Bullett Rye at 80/100). Tasted from a 30ml sample. Recommended. “Very Good” : 87/100 (4.25 stars)