Review #976 - Found North Lustrum — Me, My Wife & Whisky

Found North is already celebrating 5 years of blend producing, and they've decided to commemorate the occasion with a bottling called Lustrum (which means a period of 5 years). This bottle carries a 20 year age statement, but as usual, this Found North blend is a mixture of components with different ages; this time, it's a range of 20 years to 26 years old.

Found North also likes to combine different cask types for their blends, and for this release, they went all out. Here's the full list of oak styles used:

New charred American oak
Used American oak
Hungarian oak
Medium Toast, Char 3 new French oak
Heavy Toast, Char 3 new American oak
Heavy Toast, Char 1 new American oak
Cognac casks
Port casks
Madeira casks
Oloroso sherry casks
Tokaji casks
Amontillado sherry casks

That is quite the variety; in all, there are 15 different components which were combined for this release. These are the 3 largest pieces of the blend:

24.1% 23 year corn whisky aged in Kelvin Heavy Toast, Char 3 new oak
20.7% 21 year corn whisky aged in ISC 24-month Air-Seasoned, Heavy Toast, Char 1 new oak
11.3% 21 year, 22 year, and 26 year component blend finished in Oloroso casks for 7 months

Those 3 pieces make up about 56% of the total blend; because of that emphasis on toasted American oak in those components, we'll be on the lookout for some classic oak-heavy Found North notes. Based on the different components and percentages, the overall derived mashbill is 87% corn and 13% rye; this 20+ year whisky was bottled at a strength of 62.3% ABV (124.6 proof).

Cheers to 5 years, Found North - let's see how this latest blend tastes.

Disclaimer: This sample was provided by Found North for review at no cost. All opinions expressed in this review are our own.

Found North Lustrum

USA/Canada - Blend

Price: USD 200 (2026)

Age Statement: 20 Years

Strength: 62.3% ABV

Cask Makeup: New and toasted American oak, used American oak, toasted French oak, Hungarian oak; Cognac, Port, Madeira, Oloroso sherry, Tokaji, and Amontillado sherry casks

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; bottled 2026; 4,809 bottles

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 1 month from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Classic corn-heavy new-oak-heavy Found North: fragrant old oak, butterscotch, sweet corn spirit, and caramel. We do also get some effervescent rye, as well as baking notes of cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, and toast. Cream soda, orange marmalade, and powdered sugar come next; in one-off sessions, we found candy corn, a touch of grain, smoked rosemary, hay, and floral perfume.

Palate: Very oaky and spicy to start - prickly tannins, wood spice, and a bit of hot cooking spice almost like chili powder or red pepper flakes. Behind that, waves of sweet spirit arrive: butterscotch, cream soda, caramel, creamy oatmeal, even creme brulee. Shoe polish, cinnamon, and candied orange peel come next, along with blackberries and a bit of black pepper. This has a medium-thick mouthfeel.

Finish: Warming and cozy, and a lot of those caramel and butterscotch notes carry over. Vanilla, cookies or wafers, molasses, and spicy black pepper accent it, and we also get some maple syrup and subtle earthy wood smoke. Spicy old oak with leather brings that drying side again; in the aftertaste, lemon tart dessert lingers. It's a very long finish.

Final Note: If you like these Found North blends with a high proportion of corn in the mashbill and a focus on new and toasted American oak, this release is going to be right up your alley. Waves of old oak, tons of butterscotch and caramel sweetness, but despite the dominance of those notes, there are tons of nuances to dig into here.

While there are a bunch of different wine cask influences in this whisky, we found the fruit aspect to be more subtle here; we did get nice orange notes and hints of blackberries at times, but for us, this blend was more focused on the oak and baking notes.

There is a good mix of sweetness and spice overall as the base spirit battles the oak; the texture is great, borderline syrupy at times, and the length of the finish is ridiculously long. This is a punchy bottle, one that demands a lot of time if you want to get the most out of it. Excellent bottle, one to savor.

When we get to value, it's right around average on our scale. This is an awesome whisky, but it's pretty expensive at $200. That's on the high side of things, even for Found North, but we think it's worth it if you like the profile that these blends bring. If you enjoy lots of oak and sweet baking spice, don't miss the lottery release for this one.

Our Rating: 9.0 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.04

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.