Hibiki Japanese Harmony Suntory Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

The current incarnations are made from a blend of more than 30 individual malt and mellow grain whiskies, and the final blend is topped off with a whisky aged more than 30 years. If you’re looking for a Japanese whisky with a full spectrum of flavours and some good age to it then Togouchi’s 12 year offers decent value. Each is a single malt from the particular distillery listed in the name, but the whiskies are a play on what you’d usually find. It’s a blend of malt and grain whisky from Nikka’s Miyagikyo and Yoichi distilleries and contains plenty of fruit and toasty grain flavours with a hint of smoke thrown in for good measure.

Some soft honey aromas creep out from under the heavier blanket of oak and are carried through with a pleasant hint of varnish. Consumption began to increase following the highball craze in 2008, then again in 2014 when the life of Nikka founder Masataka Taketsuru was portrayed in a Japanese drama, Massan.Cafted by the Suntory Whisky blending team, led by Master Blender Shingo Torii, it's an elegant expression, with notes of honey, orange, a herbaceous touch or two and light oak. It tastes intense at first sip, with tobaco and smokiness present, and finishes to reveal a savoury, almost bitter note. Produced mainly using corn, the whisky is distilled in Nikka’s innovative Coffey still, imported from Scotland and valued for its ability to retain flavours while heating the grain with indirect steam. Vanilla and tropical notes are also prominent on the palate, with a pronounced rye spiciness prevailing. 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.

This is a slightly stronger whisky at 62% ABV, but strikes a lovely balance between the fruity notes from the wine finish and vanilla spice flavors that are intrinsic to this malt whisky. In Japanese whisky, “single grain” often (but not always) refers to the fact that the whisky is made from rice instead of barley.Saji and Inatomi then found the flavor by blending thirty distinctive malt and mellow grain whiskies. Having rested in hand made mizunara oak casks on land, they are then packed off to Osaka and sent out to sea for up to three months. This nautical trip rocks the whisky, enabling it to have a more complete interaction with the wood, while the constant change in climate and salty sea air also subtly alter its characteristics.

Suntory released the Tsukuriwake Selection a few months ago, which broke down the whisky into its separate elements based on barrel type: Puncheon, Peated Malt, Spanish Oak, and Mizunara.On the nose they describe “Rich dried fruit, sweet leather and mushroomy earthiness”, with a palate of, among other things, “chocolate-covered liquorice… spicy leaves… cinnamon heat… pineapple, mango, apple and pear… hints of tar… and brown sugar sweetness.

It’s made at the Chugoku Jozo distillery and, rather unusually for a whisky, is aged in a tunnel, in the town of Togouchi. 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. He added, “It’s about the big spicy rye or the big char barrel, and it falls apart if you add water to it.Both the flavor and texture come to an end with a soft ebb and flow until you hardly notice it anymore. As such, there are a lot of blended whiskies using Scottish base spirit that may or may not have been aged in Japan, and it is apparently possible to see aged shōchū being sold as whisky in the USA.