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
About this bottle
Hailing from the Whipper Snapper Distillery of Perth, Western Australia, the story behind the Crazy Uncle whisky is the special type of story found only in the whisky world. When Alasdair Malloch, co-owner of Whipper Snapper Distillery with James McKeown, was a mere university student, he struck a friendly relationship with his neighbor Vic, who flew bombers during the Second World War. Vic taught Alasdair how to make moonshine whisky using a recipe given to him during the War from an American pilot he met in Suffolk, England. The result; a wonderfully smooth Australian tribute to American bourbon. Their barrel-aged variant (they have an unaged version as well) is aged for 3 years in American white oak casks.
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 3 parsed reviews.
This was the moonshine aged in virgin American white oak. Interestingly not ex bourbon casks but virgin oak like bourbon. Again with corn it's almost like a bourbon product in the base inputs but not output i.e. taste. They did say they distilled 20 times up to 90%. Again interesting as I thought 3 to 4 times was the limit for whiskey. It's almost vodka like in this aspect. I got vanilla coming through. It was nice but I think weirdly I preferred the Moonshine spirit.
Bought this without tasting, bad idea. Taste horrible
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
