The 2025 Releases from Found North’s High Altitude Collection continue apace, with me pick up the Hell Diver 2025 this week. This one is 17 years old, being made up of 17, 20 and 24 year corn and 22 year rye, with the blend being 86% corn, 13% rye, and 1% barley. This one is 112.4 proof, and the price has gone up presumably due to tariffs. As with Peregrine, Found North took some lessons learned from the First Hell Diver and has improved upon the ultimate whisky. The whiskey was finished for 7 additional months in Pedro Ximénez sherry, Cognac and New Wood casks, with the majority apparently being cognac casks. Perusing the state of my open Found North High Altitude bottles, apparently Hell Diver was my favorite of the three. Hell, let’s dive in (see what I did there.)

The color on this is solid amber, looking more like bourbon than Canadian whisky. On the swirl is a thin finish but with thick, viscous, long legs. On the nose is loads of dark rich fruit; Italian Grappa, with some nice oak in the background. On the palate, there is a medium mouthfeel, and the flavor profile is amazing – vanilla glaze, caramel, dark fruits including some cherry and strawberry notes, and mocha. There is also an underlying earthiness to this whisky. The long finish has some light clove, nutmeg, maple syrup, and dark chocolate. The whisky is super smooth and leaves a lot to contemplate about the flavors you are experiencing.

Comparing this to last year’s Hell Diver, I get that the same process was behind them both, but the results are very different. Last year’s has a distinct apple cobbler flavor that is absent from the 2025. While last year’s version is extremely good, it has nowhere near the complexity of the 2025. I think the incorporation of more cognac and sherry barrels and fewer New American Oak has benefited the 2025 Hell Diver greatly. But Hell Diver remains a whiskey not to be served with dessert but to be contemplated in my leather chair by the fireplace.