Overview: Suntory’s Hibiki 12-year-old expression has returned to the market following an eleven-year absence, marking a significant shift in availability for this Japanese whisky blend. The release is currently restricted to global travel retail locations at airports rather than standard liquor stores. This reintroduction signals a broader industry trend returning to age-statement expressions after a period dominated by non-age-statement releases.
The Full Story
Hibiki 12 has returned, one of several age-statement Japanese whiskies to reappear on the market. The latest example comes from Suntory’s beloved blend Hibiki, which is bringing its 12-year age expression back to market. Availability remains limited, requiring consumers to head to an airport to find one for the time being.
Suntory first released Hibiki in 1989, well before the Japanese whisky craze washed ashore here in the U.S. The whisky is a blend of liquid from all three of Suntory’s distilleries—malt-whisky makers Yamazaki and Hakushu, and grain distillery Chita. Initially, there were 17- and 21-year-old expressions in the lineup, subsequently a 30-year-old was introduced in 1997, followed by a 12-year in 2009. Not all of these still exist: The 17 was discontinued in 2018 and the 12 a few years before in 2015, and today the older age statements remain exceedingly rare and expensive.
Production & Profile
The new version of Hibiki 12 differs from the original, which was a blend of whisky matured in Spanish and American oak, with a small amount of whisky aged in umeshu casks. There is no umeshu cask-aged whisky in this new version. Instead, it is built upon a base of Chita grain whisky aged in American oak and rounded out by malt whiskies aged in Spanish oak and Japanese mizunara. According to a rep for the brand, Suntory believes 15 years is the minimum length of time its whisky should spend in mizunara, so there is very likely some whisky that old in the blend, although the age statement reflects the youngest component.
The tasting profile reveals rich notes of orange, chocolate, blueberry, baking spice, vanilla, maple, honey, and warm biscuit on the palate. The brand recommends sipping this over a large ice cube, but it is available at 86 proof. A score of 92 was assigned to this release.
Brand & Industry History
Suntory first released Hibiki in 1989, well before the Japanese whisky craze washed ashore here in the U.S. The whisky is a blend of liquid from all three of Suntory’s distilleries—malt-whisky makers Yamazaki and Hakushu, and grain distillery Chita. Initially, there were 17- and 21-year-old expressions in the lineup, subsequently a 30-year-old was introduced in 1997, followed by a 12-year in 2009. Not all of these still exist: The 17 was discontinued in 2018 and the 12 a few years before in 2015, and today the older age statements remain exceedingly rare and expensive. A few years ago, a 40-year-old Hibiki was released, but good luck finding that one (just 400 bottles dropped with a price tag of $35,000 each). And now Hibiki 12 is back, albeit in limited numbers and as a global travel retail exclusive.
What This Means
The reintroduction signals an industry shift back to age-statement expressions following previous non-age-statement releases like Hibiki Harmony. A decade ago, when Japanese whisky skyrocketed in popularity, prices also rose rapidly and distilleries and brands claimed they couldn’t keep up, leading to dwindling numbers of bottles on shelves. That might have been the case, but it was also likely a marketing move. Non-age-statement expressions began showing up everywhere, replacing the numbers on the labels of classic single malts from Nikka and Suntory, which launched Hibiki Harmony as a NAS expression to satisfy consumers’ demand.
Consumer Takeaway
Twelve years is a pretty standard age for a whisky (unless it’s American), so the $188 price tag feels a bit high but not exorbitant. And, of course, at the moment this is only available at just a few global travel retail locations, so it’s not like you can just head out to a store to buy a bottle (although it may become a wider release in the future).
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