Found North 18 Years Old Cask Strength Whisky Batch 008

At Found North, the brand structures its blends around one component: whisky. When you see “Maturation” on their bottles, it refers to the aging regimen for that component, the keystone in the arch of the whisky. Sometimes it makes up 50% of the blend, and sometimes, it makes up 5% of the blend, but it is always the foundational piece of the whisky. In the case of Batch 008, the brand used a vibrant 18-year-old rye barrel in an ex-Madeira cask. This component makes up 4% of the blend but dominates the profile, releasing blackberry and fig puree on the nose and a wild-grain earth tone on the palate.

The ex-Madeira aged rye was unruly and vivacious, requiring four separate corn components to round out the profile and give the whisky its shockingly creamy texture. To accomplish this, we blended in a 22-year corn component in new wood, a 23-year corn component in new wood, a 23-year corn component in ex-Bourbon, and our favorite, a 26-year corn component in Hungarian oak. Lastly, we used a 19-year Hungarian oak-aged rye to provide Batch 008 with the spicy backbone and texture on the finish.

The nose smells of a freshly baked blueberry muffin with a swirl of blackberry buttercream frosting. The muffin is caked with a glaze of cane sugar, resting atop of dried fig and apple crisp. The whisky lands on the palate, bright, fresh and cooling, like the first breath of an autumn morning. The palate erupts with a mix of tangy, tart sweetness, homemade whipped cream and an apple cider donut that fell into a pile of freshly fallen leaves.

There is a wildness to the whisky, like it was cultivated in a field of rye and wildflowers on an unknown hill. The whisky finally blossoms into the finish, a creamy crescendo of angel food cake, it never turns hot or dry. It just lingers. Bright. Vibrant. Viscous.