Well, I proverbially cleaned up this Father’s Day, being gifted a bottle of Found North Hell Diver from my stepsons and another Found North release from my wife I will be reviewing next. Hell Diver is Found North’s second release in the High Altitude collection, the first being Peregrine which I reviewed. Hell Diver has a fifteen year old age statement, representing the youngest whiskey in the mix. This blend is made up of corn whiskies aged 15, 22, and 23 years old, and rye whiskies aged 18 and 18 years. It was then blended and further matured in PX Shery, New American Oak, and Cognac casks, with the final blend being 85% corn, 14% rye, and 1% barley. This bottle is cask strength at 119 proof and, like all Found North releases, non-chill filtered. They don’t even have one of those machines, thankfully!

Of course I immediately cracked this one open Sunday after supper upon opening the gift bag! This review is being written a few days later. The color is a really nice deep copper; with a thin film but really big oily droplets and legs on the swirl. On the nose are dark fruit and grappa notes, along with fresh baked breads, apples, and vanilla. Really nice. On the palate, I get apple cobbler with baking spices and a hint of brown sugar, vanilla, and clove. Really really lovely whisky. Mouthfeel is really lovely at medium full and the whisky is quite smooth for this proof and the various finishing casks. On the finish the baking spices, brown sugar, and clove carry over into lovely oak tannin with hints of English pipe tobacco. This whisky is outstanding.

I poured a little Peregrine to compare. The Hell Diver is really a slightly bolder whisky, with more oak on the finish, making it slightly less desserty and while it would be fine foil like Peregrine is with dessert, this is more of a whiskey you enjoy in a leather chair by the fire on its own. I wouldn’t want dessert with Hell Diver. The only thing I wouldn’t mind interrupting this finish is a puff of smoke off a fine cigar or a Peterson Pipe filled with Balkan Sasieni.

Bill Maher recently joked on his New Rules segment on his show Real Time on a segment titled “Faker’s Mark” that all of the tasting notes of whiskey are just window dressing for the main event, getting drunk. While that may be true, if Found North whiskies, particularly Hell Diver, are but window dressings, then these are stained glass in Washington National Cathedral. Bill doesn’t know what he is missing.