Review #157 - Hibiki Japanese Harmony
Made by Suntory, the Hibiki Japanese Harmony is a blended whisky hailing from Japan. Details are somewhat opaque, but we can assume this is probably some mixture of malt and grain whisky. While neither the bottle nor the website disclose anything about a cask regimen, some research online points us in the direction of a mixture of American oak casks (probably ex-bourbon), ex-sherry casks, and the Mizunara casks that have become such a staple in Japanese whisky.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony
Japan - Blend
Price Paid: USD 91 (2022)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 90 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 43% ABV
Cask Makeup: American oak, ex-sherry casks, and Mizunara oak casks
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 5 times over years; bottles at 50%, 100%, 70% (blind tasting), 70% (blind tasting), and 60% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Boozy stewed fruits like grape, but also some lighter fruits: green apple, almost bordering on a tropical fruit like pineapple. On the baking spice side of things, brown sugar is by far the most dominant note, but we also found malty barley sugar. There's some old furniture wood and a hint of perfume, along with the tiniest hint of smoke; we found a soft, bright spirity note at times, and overall, the nose is mellow.
Palate: Medium thickness mouthfeel, and not quite as light as the nose: caramel and some richer oak, plenty of brown sugar and baking spices like clove and cinnamon. The fruits come back with grape again, and there's almost a bit of a brandy taste. Hints of spirit still, but mixed with older oak notes, and we end with some burnt orange rind.
Finish: Medium length, very round and buttery, with a decent amount of oaky notes once again. Sugary brown syrup, vanilla bean, and then a bit of lemon comes in; at the end, pancakes with rum sauce.
Final Note: After seeing the popularity of this bottle online, and considering the price tag, we were hoping for a little more. It's a nice blend, with solid fruity tones in the nose and some richer baking spices and oak notes in the palate and finish, but the bottling strength does let this down a little bit. There's an interesting mix of mature flavor notes but also some spirity youth, so maybe this is a blend with components of a wide range of ages. Because this is a somewhat pricey whisky, the value proposition does suffer a little bit.
Our Average Rating: 6.6 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.84
