Whipper Snapper Wheatbelt Series Wheat Whiskey

Nose: Apple juice, red apple peel, porridge with a tablespoon of honey on top, wash in the early stages of fermentation, fresh cut grass and sweet hay. It’s a lighter and more delicate nose than that of the distillery’s single malt. Palate: The arrival is sweet for a second then suddenly moves towards a hard, dry profile. Cereals are the most prominent note, and the foundation is particularly spicy (caraway seed, fennel seed) with a minty, menthol-like note and morello cherry. The texture is oily but there is a bright acidic quality that cuts through it, however a dash of water much improves both the flavour profile and the texture. Finish: Medium. Cereal flavours and minty spices fading to sour cherry. This is the second of the Whipper Snapper samples I recently acquired, and overall it is quite similar to a rye whisky but with more brightly toned spices. I used to have the expectation that wheat whiskies would be sweeter and softer than rye whiskies, but actually the reverse is true. This is like a rye profile but without the deeper notes (if your average rye was likened to a baritone voice then this would be a tenor). As with the distillery’s single malt I enjoyed the aromas here but was not so impressed by the palate. The nose has a light, fragrant character but the palate proclaims its youth in somewhat shrill tones. Like the single malt this is much closer to a rye profile than I would have suspected. I was initially going to give this 75/100 but after adding a dash of water I increased the rating to 77 which put it on the better side of “average”. Then on a whim I used the remaining un-watered half of the tasting sample to make a Manhattan, which seemed reasonable given how rye-like this is. The result was unexpectedly good, the drink being very refreshing and crisp, and this prompted me to add another two points to the rating. I think this whisky only shows its best side when used as a mixer, but sadly at the price that makes it a very expensive cocktail ingredient. Note: Initially I posted this in error under the listing for "Whipper Snapper Wheat Whiskey" but I found out that this is a different product with a higher abv so I've made a new listing. Thanks to @DrRHCMadden for a comment on the previous review that made me look into this and discover the error. Tasted from a 30ml sample. “Average” : 79/100 (2.75 stars)