Fib Whisky Macallan 10 Year Old “Mistaken Identity”

Fib Whisky Macallan 10 Year Old “Mistaken Identity”

Region: Speyside

ABV: 61.1%

Price: £100.00

Distilled in 2015 and bottled in 2025 for Edinburgh’s Whisky Festival in support of the My Name's Doddie Foundation. This single malt Macallan was matured in a first fill bourbon barrel before being transferred to a refill Oloroso hogshead. There was an outturn of 100 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with Play-Doh, lemon juice, mangoes, baked corn crisps, and a touch of papaya. With a little patience, orange, apple peel, milk chocolate, and pineapple appear. There is surprisingly little alcohol spice for the ABV. Pleasant overall, though we are not sure the sherry finish has added much to the nose.

Palate

There is definitely more sherry influence on the palate, with notes of caramel, fudge, and prunes. Behind these, the bourbon cask shows through as honey, vanilla, mango yoghurt, and orange juice. The finish is a good length with heavy peppery spice, although the spice quickly dominates. The mouthfeel is a little underwhelming; we were expecting a bit more.

Nose (with water)

With reduction, damp wood and a musty note replace the more interesting fruity elements, leaving simpler, slightly synthetic sweeter notes such as sugar syrup. With patience, a little strawberry appears. The alcohol spice remains well balanced. It feels as though water has closed off the nose rather than opened it up.

Palate (with water)

With water, the spice on the palate is dimmed, and Cadbury milk chocolate, sugar syrup, and orange peel become the dominant notes. A pomegranate bitterness appears on the now medium length finish. Overall, it’s now more one dimensional sweetness with a hint of bitterness at the end.

Conclusion

We wanted to enjoy this more, but it falls a little short of the mark. If you nabbed a bottle, we recommend a few drops of water. With dilution, you get a simple, easy-drinking dram.

Score: 6.5/10

Value

We can’t complain about the price of a charity bottle.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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