Hibiki Japanese Harmony Suntory Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

Palate: Initial is bright and lively, lifting you up and bringing you to attention, forcing you to focus and really appreciate all the flavors being presented to you. Floral aromas join complex spiciness, and vanilla and chocolate are also dominant on the palate, while the finish is refined with prominent oak notes. Hibiki was introduced in 1989 by Suntory, originally with expressions having age statements of 17 and 21 years. This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. If you want to get your hands on an archetypical Japanese blended whisky then Suntory’s Hibiki is well worth investigating.

It’s a complex whisky – keep sipping slowly and you might even detect some coconut, which is typical of mizunara whiskies – and it has a mellow depth that will make you want to savour every drop. Nikka Days is a good choice if you want to try out a Japanese whisky without breaking the bank, with its bright and cheerful character typical of the country’s output. The first release that came out this year was Bourbon Cask Reserve, a limited-edition, high-proof (61% ABV) whisky aged in, you guessed it, bourbon barrels. An old bottle of Hibiki blended whisky from Suntory, bottled without an age statement - but with a shiny gold presentation box. Over his career, Chief Blender, Koichi Inatomi, sampled and tasted aged malt whiskies from one million casks at Suntory.Whatever mysterious magic this sea adventure conjures up seems to work a treat in their lightly peated whisky, where delicate, sweet vanilla and soft smoke merge with zesty citrus flavours and a honeyed sweetness. Spend some time taking in its aroma and you’ll begin to appreciate the various elements coming together, with fruits, spices, floral and woody notes all present. Nikka, the other big player in the Japanese whisky world, released two limited-edition bottles as part of its Discovery Series this past fall.

Japanese whisky is deeply influenced by Scotch whisky in many ways, but has grown and developed into something that is very much its own beast. True, these don’t taste like Japanese single malts, but that’s because they are not–they are, however, interesting and refined sipping whiskies that shouldn’t be dismissed by single malt purists. A blended whisky from Suntory, this pulls in malt whisky from their Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries, and grain whisky from Chita.

It's full-bodied with a little creaminess, too, making this an ideal whisky to serve neat in a dram.

On the other hand, the range of Japanese whisky that you can find in the UK is broader and more easily accessible. Within the fruits we think zesty lemon is the most detectable, while some toffee sweetness adds to its overall smooth nature. In 2001 the distillery closed, and news spread around the world of this mystical mountain distillery with a diminishing volume of exceptional whisky. There’s a woodland feel to both aroma and flavour, with floral, oak and even slightly fungal notes present, along with some fruitier hits of cherry.This distillery is a newcomer in the world of Japanese whisky, having only begun operations in 2016.

A respectful, distinctive and superbly individual array of Japanese blended whiskies await you dear reader.

This is not to say that the practice of sourcing whisky from other countries to blend together is inherently a bad thing, but these rules will ensure more transparency by labeling this type of whisky as “world whisky.