Found North Hell Diver
First Flight

Description

Hell Diver First Flight is the newest addition to our High Altitude Collection. Unlike our Batches where we blend fully matured whiskies, our High Altitude Collection is defined by the process of blend, finish, reblend. Adhering to this creation philosophy, Hell Diver started as a blend of 15, 22 and 23 year old corn with 18 and 19 year old rye, which we recasked into Pedro Ximénez Sherry, Cognac, and New American oak casks. Over the following year, we meticulously tracked these casks’ progression, pulling and vatting them as they reached their peak maturation. To achieve the correct balance, we only used two-thirds of these casks in the final blend.

We designed the original blend with Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks in mind. Sherry casks are heavy-handed and prone to overwhelm meek-spirited whisky. A domineering cask requires an imperious spirit. As such, we created a deep, rich and viscous original blend with prominent orchard fruit preserves, earthy rye spice and pronounced rose blossom water top notes. We believed this foundation would handle the sweet and dry resonance of PX Sherry casks.

Flavor Notes

A swirling aura of fig preserves, chocolate pound cake and straight cacao waft from the glass as the first pour flows from the bottle. The nose evolves into caramel, shortbread wafer and candied apricot with coffee ice cream and chocolate covered raspberries.
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Hell Diver lands like a power chord, strumming cinnamon, dark chocolate and wood spice on the front palate. This whisky is a maelstrom of layered flavor and texture. Like the wind and the tide, the oily-sweet viscosity on the tongue merges with the crackling nutmeg spice on the roof of the palate, meeting in the middle to create a tempest of tannin, graham cracker, vanilla and allspice, all tinged a deep shade of ruby red fruit. If your palate had eyes it would see claret. 

The flavors coalesce, the sea calms and the finish leaves you with reverberating notes of candied dates and cloves.

Why We Made This Whisky

For us, Found North is an ongoing journey, an unfolding story. When we made Peregrine, we had a vision for an elegant, elevated whisky; a bird, a blend and a style that could wear the crown of the High Altitude Collection. The resulting whisky embodied the high-soaring Peregrine Falcon that reaches for the heavens.

As we contemplated the next chapter in the collection, we wanted to create Peregrine’s counterpart. Though the loon is a great flier, traveling upwards of 500 miles in a single day, it is known for its aquatic prowess and its eerie nighttime call that haunts the foggy northern lakes of North America. Nicknamed the Hell Diver, the Common Loon is an uncommonly heavy bird allowing it to propel itself below the water’s surface.

A subaqueous glider, an avian submarine, it does not spend its days stretching across the horizon, touched by the sun. Instead, it delves deep and dances with the devil, only emerging at dusk, when it yowls at the moon, red eyes glowing in the diminishing sunlight.

We had the bird, so we made the whisky. While Peregrine took us to new heights, Hell Diver takes us to new depths.