For our quarterly virtual tasting @PBMichiganWolverine very generous to provide a sample of an older Balvenie 10 dating back to 1980 that was bottled in a cognac style bottle. The nose starts floral and creamy with light lemon and lime zests in the background then vanilla seeds and a faint chocolate followed by poached pears, orange blossom and grapefruit zest that transitions to ginger, cloves and mild oak spice with low ethanol burn. The taste is a thin to medium mouthfeel starting floral and creamy with light lemon and lime zests then a moderate bitter and sour spice that slowly fades to vanilla gelato and cacao nibs followed by poached pears, candied orange peel and grapefruit zest that transitions to ginger, cloves and a mild oak spice with low ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with lemon lime candy, powdered ginger, and a mild black pepper spice. The nose on this is very creamy with florals dominating but allowing moderate citrus notes to come through along with mild spices for a beautiful balance which carries over to the taste but has a higher spice than I'd prefer that eventually fades to allow those creamy citrus notes back through and finished mildly pepper with some lemon lime fruits. Thanks @PBMichiganWolverine for providing this for our little group to taste as I doubt I would ever find this today for anything I'd be willing to pay and it was really fun to be able to try an older bottling of Balvenie.