In addition to the Found North Hell Diver I got for Father’s Day from my step-sons, my wife bought me a bottle of Found North Single Barrel. This is Found North’s third “season” of single barrel releases, and this bottle comes from Barrel 4, and is bottle 110. Despite the QR code on the back, the website has not yet been updated with information on this particular bottling. This blend features 11 year old rye, 19 year old rye, 15 year old corn, and 23 year old corn, which was then finished in new American Oak barrels with a number 3 char. The percentage break down of the blend is 80% corn, 28% rye, and 2% barley. This whisky is a hefty 124.8 proof, although I have seen higher proof corn whiskies bottled by Ry3 and Old Carter. Finishing these whiskies is new American oak should make this blend rather bourbon like.

I included a close up picture of the glass because this whiskey is pretty dark, even for Found North and could easily pass for bourbon; the color is a really nice deep amber. On the swirl is a fairly thick film with gravity defying legs that are very thick as they develop. Really nice. On the nose I get toasted marshmallow, brown sugar, clove, Horween leather, and a hint of oak in the background. On the palate is lovely baked green apples is caramelized brown sugar, some vanilla, rye spice and grassy rye notes along with fresh mint reminiscent of high rye bourbons that a lot of people hold in high esteem. On the finish, the grassy notes become more assertive along with dark chocolate, leather, oak, and a hint of clove reminiscent of the taste of clove cigarettes. As I continue to sip on it and the whiskey gets exposed to more oxygen, the grassy notes turn more minty with each sip, to the point where the mint becomes dominant.

This is very different, to my palate, than other Found North releases. The inclusion of younger rye whisky in the blend and having a higher percentage of that rye really changes the complexion of their whisky. I would swear this whiskey is sort of an homage to Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel. The rye whiskies are really showing off in this blend by cutting the sweetness of the corn whiskies to a point where this is the most bourbon like of the Found North releases I have tried.