Review #993 - Found North Hell Diver 2026 Release

In these final 10 reviews leading up to review #1000, we've decided to take a look at whiskies from distilleries which, at one point or another in our exploration of whisky, have become more meaningful to us than most others. These 10 distilleries had impacts on journey for a variety of reasons, reasons which we'll dig into in each review.

For our next review, we go to Found North and their 2026 Release of Hell Diver, a part of the High Altitude Series. Found North actually isn't a distillery, adding an asterisk to this '10 distilleries' idea that we're working through; that said, this brand is one of the most important producers to us. One of the things they taught us is to not overlook certain categories of whisky which may have more to offer than we first expect.

Before trying Found North, our impression of Canadian whisky here in the US was mostly based upon cheap blended whiskies, almost entirely used for mixing. That all changed with this Massachusetts-based bottler; they showed us how good Canadian whisky can be, and in doing that, they also emphasized how good blends can be, and how good finished whiskies can be. This bottler shows the importance of focusing on quality, and while their whiskies are often quite expensive, we've found that the flavor of the whisky generally backs those prices up.

So, onto the specific expression we're reviewing today: the Hell Diver 2026 Release. The original Hell Diver was one of our favorite whiskies to date, and generally, our favorite Found North releases have been those which utilize finishing in some sort of fortified red wine cask, such as sherry, Port, or Madeira. Previous versions of Hell Diver have been very focused on Pedro Ximenez sherry cask finishing; that's still the case here, but this final edition in 2026 added some Oloroso sherry casks into the mix. As usual, Found North gives us a ton of information about the components of the blend:

40% 16 year corn whisky aged in used American oak
24% 16 year corn whisky aged in new American oak
15% 20 year corn whisky aged in used American oak
12% 16 year rye whisky aged in used French oak
5% 25 year corn whisky aged in used American oak
4% 22 year corn whisky aged in new American oak

Overall, we get a derived mashbill of 88% corn, 11% rye grain, and 1% malted barley; the bulk of the whisky was in that 16 year age bracket, and we get an average age of roughly 17.3 years between the components. Then, we move into the finishing casks:

72% First fill Pedro Ximenez sherry casks
13% ISC Cooper's Reserve air-seasoned, heavy toast, char #2 new American oak
11% First fill Oloroso sherry casks
4% ISC Cooper's Reserve air-seasoned, heavy toast, char #1 new American oak

So, as we said - emphasis still on PX casks, but there is definitely some nuance mixed in here. Because of our previous experiences with Hell Diver releases, we're looking forward to this one quite a bit - let's see how the final Hell Diver performs.

Found North Hell Diver 2026 Release

USA/Canada - Blend

Price: USD 170 (2026)

Age Statement: 16 Years

Strength: 62.1% ABV

Cask Makeup: Used American oak, used French oak, new toasted American oak, Oloroso sherry, and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks

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

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 2 months; bottles at 90%, 80%, 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Creamy corn spirit, tons of caramel, very buttery or butterscotch-forward; it leans sweet, but we do get some oak notes building up, especially dry leather and wood spice. Slowly, fruit arrives: blackberries dusted with sugar, or actually blackberry-topped creme brulee, as well as a hint of raspberry jam. Vanilla, raisin bread, cinnamon oatmeal, and brown sugar were accents.

Palate: The mouthfeel is very thick - the texture is absurd, very viscous, borderline syrupy or oily at times. It's a rich tasting experience with peppery wood spice, brown sugar, creme brulee, and a lot of caramel to start; then we find waffles with maple syrup, dark cherries, stewed blackberry, and cranberry sauce. There's a hint of a savory side to that peppery rye/oak, and we get oranges and cream, orange soda, raisins, and medjool dates too. Soft tangy stone fruit like peach lingers at the end - there's a ton of fruity and baking spice complexity here.

Finish: Like the nose and palate, a mix of fruits and baking notes: creamy grain, caramel, sharp tannic oak, strawberries, butterscotch. There's a warmth from both the strength and the oak presence, and the pleasant texture lingers. A touch of tobacco arrives, along with strong fig notes, red meat, cinnamon, and tart nectarine. This is a long finish, and an aftertaste of raisins and dates lingers.

Final Note: This is a delicious bottle from Found North, and it reinforces those reasons that we've enjoyed the brand so much over the years. There's a lot of complexity in this bottle, and if you both (1) give it time to air out in the glass, and (2) experiment with adding small amounts of water, you can unlock a lot of additional flavors.

At first, we found the whisky to show much more dominant baking spice flavors, especially on the nose; time did bring some fruit scents later on. Once we get to the palate, though, there's a much stronger fruit influence from those Oloroso and PX sherry casks, and those flavors continue into the finish. We still get plenty of creamy baking spices too, but there was a plethora of raisin, date, blackberry, and orange throughout the tasting. We also found that this whisky leaned quite sweet in general, although that oak spice from the long maturation does pick up at the end of the palate and into the finish.

Overall, this is an excellent bottle, one we're going to sip through slowly for a long time. It's a dense whisky that takes a lot of time to get the most from, and it seems to be evolving over time in the bottle as well, so we're looking forward to finding many more nuances in the future.

For the value rating for this whisky, our formula says this is on the high side of average. That's because, along with the fantastic flavors, there's also a high price tag: $170 plus tax from the producer, although there's some variance in secondary pricing. We do think this bottle is worth that, though, and it's another validation for us that Found North is putting out amazing liquid, so we'll continue to buy from them.

Our Rating: 8.8 / 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: 6.32

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.