The Story

Whipper Snapper started with two-brothers in law, Alasdair Malloch and James McKeown. Alasdair had been making moonshine in a back shed in Perth, learning from his veteran World War II neighbour who’d been passed a recipe by a US pilot during the war. Seeing a future in the emerging Australian whisky industry, Alasdair teamed up with brother-in-law James to found Whipper Snapper Distillery in 2014.

From the get-go, they set their sights on creating an easy-drinking Australian whisky, inspired by the surviving recipe, and sensing that Australia’s thirst for Bourbon could be satisfied with a local option. Short on distilling experience, McKeown spent time at the Colorado Gold Distillery under the tutelage of Tom Cooper, and the duo also received advice from the highly experienced Frank McHardy, who’d earned his renown from successful stints at the Springbank and Bushmills distilleries in the UK.

A site was eventually found in East Perth, just outside the CBD, and after initially releasing their barrel-aged Crazy Uncle Moonshine in 2014, Upshot Australian Whisky followed two years later in 2016. Upshot is made from a mash bill of 80% corn, 10% wheat and 10% malt. Spirit is also filled into cask at 42% abv for the Upshot, and although that rises in the barrel over time (the water in the spirit evaporates more quickly than alcohol in Perth’s climate), it’s certainly contributed to creating what is a very light and delicate whisky.

The Upshot was then joined by Whipper Snapper’s Project Q – an experimental release made from locally-grown quinoa which has both its fans and detractors. A cask strength expression of the Upshot was released in 2018, and this has since been followed by a wheat whiskey, a range of limited single cask bottlings, and a rye whiskey in 2022.

Whipper Snapper has pushed itself into the top rank of Australian whisky distilleries, and their American-style approach will continue to find an enthusiastic base here and abroad.