Balvenie Founders Reserve Cognac bottle

During our quarterly virtual tasting, a friend was very generous in providing a sample of an older Balvenie 10 from around 1980, bottled in a cognac-style container. The aroma begins floral and creamy with subtle lemon and lime zests in the background, followed by vanilla seeds and faint chocolate, then poached pears, orange blossom, and grapefruit zest which shifts to ginger, cloves, and mild oak spice with minimal ethanol burn. The taste has a thin to medium body, starting floral and creamy with light lemon and lime zests, then a moderate bitter and sour spice that gradually fades to vanilla gelato and cacao nibs, followed by poached pears, candied orange peel, and grapefruit zest which transitions to ginger, cloves, and a mild oak spice with minimal ethanol burn. The finish is medium in length with lemon-lime candy, powdered ginger, and a mild black pepper spice. The aroma is very creamy with florals being dominant but allowing moderate citrus notes to come through along with mild spices for a beautiful balance. This carries over to the taste but has a higher spice level than I prefer, which eventually fades to allow those creamy citrus notes to return. It finishes mildly peppery with some lemon-lime fruits. Thanks to the friend for providing this for our small group to taste, as I doubt I'd ever find this today at a price I'd be willing to pay. It was truly enjoyable to be able to try an older bottling of Balvenie.

I sampled a small amount while preparing pours for our tasting with friends. This is exceptionally rare, an early 80s Balvenie 10-year-old. I have no idea why it's in a cognac bottle shape, but I surmise it was due to cognac's immense popularity in the early 80s. Did Balvenie have such low regard for consumers that they'd mistakenly grab this thinking it was cognac? Regardless, I don't believe this can be found anymore, except through auctions. I acquired my bottle over 15 years ago but decided to bring it out for our tasting. I doubt any shops currently carry it, but it will likely surface on the secondary market (I'm unsure of today's price and can't recall what I paid 15 years ago). I must state upfront that I'm not particularly fond of Balvenie; I prefer whiskies like Lagavulin or Springbank that are more assertive. This is delicate. It's light, with aromas of apple juice, gentle oak, and ginger. The nose is superb, and for me, it elevated this from mediocre to a rather good score. The aroma is very elegant. The taste is a step down—vanilla, white grapes. It's good, but personally, I'm just not a Balvenie enthusiast (the only one I truly enjoyed was from the Tun series). Therefore, my score might not accurately reflect its quality. However, I am very grateful to have experienced something so scarce.