Two Blended Japanese Whisky Reviews: Hibiki Japanese Harmony and Hibiki Blender’s Choice
Hibiki Japanese Harmony: Master’s Select / 43% ABV
Tasted neat
This is a NAS blend from Suntory Whisky, adorned with the text “Specially selected for complexity and richness”. It was originally released for the travel retail market. The back label states it is a “blended Japanese whisky.” The front label is plain regular paper.
- Color: chestnut (1.2)
- Nose: raisin brandy, Japanese mizunara oak, toffee, almonds, brown sugar, and pine
- Taste: thin, hot, and sugary; pine needles, baked bread, and caramel
- Finish: icing sugar, cinnamon; spiced wine, fairly short
It’s a very inoffensive version of this famous Japanese blend; it drinks like a dessert whisky, and my main complaints are that it’s proofed so low, and priced rather high for a high-grain blend. Assuming you can find it for around the same price as Japanese Harmony, it’s not a bad choice!
Rating: 4/10
Hibiki Blender’s Choice / 43% ABV
Tasted neat
Similar to the previous, also a NAS blend from Suntory Whisky, but allegedly more of a 15 year old blend, it features label text “*A harmonious blend of the finest selection of diverse whiskies” on washi-paper.
The back label has some information:
多種多様な樽で熟成を深めた幅広い酒齢の原酒を 厳選し、匠の技で繊細なブレンドを重ねました。ワイン樽 後熟原酒を加えることで生まれた、奥深く甘やかな味わいを 華やかでやわらかい香りのハーモニーをお愉しみください。
1日を刻む24の時間、季節の移ろいを記す二十四の節気を意味する24面カットのボトルに、越前和紙のラベルを纏わせました。
And in English:
We have carefully selected a wide range of sake aged in a variety of barrels and blended them delicately with the skill of our craftsmen. We hope you will enjoy the harmony of the deep and sweet taste and the gorgeous soft aroma created by the addition of the wine barrel-aged sake.
The bottle is cut on 24 sides to represent the 24 hours of the day and the 24 seasonal divisions, and is covered with a label made of Echizen Washi (Japanese paper).
- Color: chestnut (1.2)
- Nose: oakiness, pine, grains, summer osmanthus, and damp leaves
- Taste: medium-bodied, some oiliness, graham crackers, marshmallow; sweet sherry, and floral
- Finish: medium in length, the icing sugar gives way to oak, vanilla ice cream, and pine
This is probably the best affordable version of Hibiki that is readily available at the moment, although it’s priced as quite the luxury good at 16,500 JPY. While it’s not exactly value for the money, I think this is a pretty fair baseline for what Hibiki is trying to do as a Japanese blended whisky.
Rating: 5/10
A few notes from side-by-side:
- these are almost certainly brought to identical colouration with e150a
- The Blender’s choice is still a bit hot, but much better than Japanese Harmony
- Blender’s choice is much richer, showing much more wood influence
- The pricing here still boggles me, Japanese domestic whisky markets are broken
