Our Journey

Armed with curiosity (and a lot of optimism), Al and Jimmy set off travelling across the US and Scotland, learning from anyone willing to share their craft. Boldly telling distillers they were going to start their own one day, Al and Jimmy collected laughs along the way, with only some distillers offering their words of wisdom. During this journey, they were often nicknamed “whipper snappers”, a tongue in cheek homage to their youthful enthusiasm and fearless approach, which eventually stuck as the name of their whiskey.

In Colorado, Jimmy met Tom Cooper, who generously shared his whiskey knowledge and inspiration. Having just sold his small distillery, Colorado Gold, Tom quickly became a trusted mentor. He helped the pair with second-hand equipment, barrel contacts and even a recipe to build on. That recipe became the foundation of what we now know as Upshot Original, which was later tweaked to suit Aussie tastes and WA-grown grain.