A Balvenie and a Balvy


February 12, 2026

A Balvenie
and a Balvy

Yet another new name for a ‘blended malt’ which, in all likelihood, comes from the famous distillery in Dufftown, from which we are about to sample — as an aperitif — a 10-year-old expression from a few years ago.

Balvenie 10 yo 'Founder's Reserve' (40%, OB, Germany, +/-2005)

We have of course already tasted this 10 a few times, but we have never written a ‘formal’ tasting note. In any case it was not the greatest of the Balvenies, even if the version from the 1980s in a Cognac bottle had been a little superior, in my humble opinion. That was the era when Scotch sometimes copied the attributes of cognac, you see… Colour: gold. Nose: mainly hay and herbal tea to begin with, then a touch of vanilla and fresh walnut, finally hints of not quite fully ripe apricot. It is not immensely expressive, but this is a 40% vol. version, there was also 43%. Mouth: much more punch on the palate, it is almost a little rustic and spirity, then it unfolds on vanilla and overripe apple, slightly bitter woody touches, and a return of the apricots, accompanied by peaches, the whole rather dry. No very ripe mirabelle nor quince paste this time. Finish: not so short, a little bitter, with a touch of lemon zest right at the end. Comments: it is nonetheless really rather good, better than in my memories. Perhaps a little good OBE after twenty years in bottle?
SGP:451 - 81 points.

Balvy 35 yo 1989/2025 (52%, The Whisky Jury, blended malt, refill hogshead, cask #681R, 278 bottles)

Thirty-five years, that is beginning to count. Let us see whether we rediscover the mirabelle tart with custard so common in old Balvenie distilled towards the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Colour: pale gold. It is paler than the 10 yo, ha. Nose: I would almost go so far as to call it ‘anti-Balvenie’, so much does it begin on roots and waxes, fresh mastic, a handful of just-malted barley, old tobacco in an old tobacco pouch, and an old tin box with old mint tea inside. In short, you see, all this is murmuring rather quietly for the moment. Water should wake it up as it wakes the cats at WF Towers. With water: yes, it works, it brings out Williams pear and quince, and even cauliflower, but in homeopathic doses, so no cause for concern. Mouth (neat): the Balvenie DNA returns at once, with plums of every hue in abundance, plenty of apples and even some cider, then notes of salted butter caramel. Who does not like salted butter caramel? No one. With water: it becomes even more ‘Balvenie’, firing off apples, pears, greengages, little apricots, but also a touch of kirsch. In short, it is an old Balve… Balvy that has remained rather rustic. Finish: long, close to the orchard but also to the earth. Green apple and a surprisingly marked salinity in the aftertaste. Comments: let us admit that it does not show its 35 years, and that the cask was doubtless lazier than Homer Simpson. Or than a giant panda. Or than the cats at WF HQ.
SGP:551 - 88 points.

Check the index of all Balvenie we've tasted