Review 238. July in Japan: whisky classics from the land of the rising sun

Ok first things first: last week’s sample of the Balblair wasn’t gifted to me by my dear Italian friend Yuri, it came from another fellow Belgian Barfly, Tom. Who happens to have a pool. Which in the current heatwave (36° C  - 97°F today) sounds even better than a trip to Italy. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.

Anyway, before I dive into summer break, I rummaged through my sample boxes and dug out a couple that would fit perfectly for another theme.  While I more or less let go of the monthly themed reviews on account of randomly picking stuff from my sample collection, I do miss them a bit. If only because it allowed me to go a bit more in depth on a certain topic as I would usually have 3, 4 or even 5 posts to look at something whisky related from different angles. Back in March, I reviewed a Kanosuke, one of Japan’s up and coming distilleries, while touching upon the topic of how it still can be a bit of a labyrinth, finding your way through Japanese whisky. that post was based on a sample (which in turn was part of a bag of samples!) courtesy of Anglo- Belgian barfly, Nic (whisky 101) and all of them were Japanese. Even more so: all of them were from Suntory, 1 of Japan’s biggest whisky producers, if not THE biggest). I hinted that I would do a series on Japanese classics at the time, and now seems to be a s good a time as any.

Before we dive in, I can only repeat what I’ve said on previous reviews as well: if you’re looking to find your way into Japanese whisky, make sure to visit Mac’s Kanpai Planet channel. He never fails to deliver top notch videos where content and form are equally important. Which results in videos that are educational, fun and pleasant to watch as he always makes sure they are very well edited, making them look like often tongue in cheek, educational  mini documentaries with the entertainment tap wide open as well.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Select. Blended Japanese whisky, 43%, natural colour, likely chill filtered. Widely available, app. £80-€100

Is there a better whisky to kick off a series on Japanese classics than Hibiki’s Harmony? Arguably it’s the Daddy of the Japanese whisky classics and it’s probably what made Suntory famous the world over. Even if you never tried it or if you never were into whisky to begin with, chances are you’ll remember Bill Muray’s iconic clip from the 2003 film ‘Lost in Translation’, making an add for the brand with the immortal tag line ‘For relaxing times, make it Suntory times’.

Hibiki (meaning ‘echo’ or ‘resonance’) was launched as far back as 1989 as a premium blend, albeit back then it came with either a 17 year old or a 21 year old age statement. Given the rising demand for all things Japanese whisky in the past 20 odd years, those age statements became increasingly difficult to maintain, and a NAS version with the name ‘Japanese Harmony’ was launched in 2015, all but replacing the previous 17 and 21 year old expressions. The NAS version was said to be made from the same malt and grain whiskies used in the original Hibiki blends, consisting of at least 10 malt and grain whiskies from Suntory’s 3 distilleries (Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita – two of which will appear in the following weeks); and the oldest whiskies in the mix were said to be around 20 years of age. These days, the standard ‘Japanese Harmony’ has gotten a sibling with the more limited Hibiki Blossom Harmony, while some of those high end, very premium age stated Hibiki’s occasionally are released again as well.  For a full, deep dive into all things Hibiki, I can only – again – recommend  you watching Mac’s deep dive into the history and background of Japan’s most iconic whisky brand, or pick up on some essential reading and get your hands on a copy of  Stefan Van Eycken’s ‘Whisky Rising’.  

Nose

A lot of honey, a lot of floral and fruity sweetness: orange zest and blood oranges, apricot, raspberries, but also notes of rosewater and violets. Alongside there’s a clear yet subtle biscuity-grainy sweetness with an equally subtle milk chocolate note in the mix. Only after 15 to 20  minutes that typical grainy-glue like element shows up, which is basically the only bit of criticism I can out towards this sweet, perfectly nice and pleasant nose.

Palate

Grainy and biscuity. Quite dry and overall it comes across as a bit ‘thin’ as both the flavours and the texture aren’t exactly shining in full force at the 43% ABV here. Dried fruit now, with again some chocolate and caramel. A hint of vanilla and dark honey make an effort to translate some of the traits and glory from the nose on to the palate, but, pleasant as this still is, I can’t help but feel it can’t fully deliver here. The nose was writing out checks the palate simply fails to cash.

Finish

Medium long, woody and drying.

Final thoughts

Overall a very pleasant experience, but there’s no denying the nose is doing a lot of the heavy lifting to make that happen. The (close to) 3 digits it retails for today is hard to swallow and can’t really be justified in my honest opinion. In a Macallan kind-of-way, I get the impression it still relies (heavily) on its old fame and glory to be put in that premium segment, and while it indeed is a perfectly nice and pleasant, it’s also  perhaps slightly reaching for yet not fully achieving greatness. In a lot of ways it is VERY Japanese: well thought through, excellently engineered, with good balance overall and beautifully presented and if the palate could only fulfil the potential the nose  announced/promised, I think I would have no issue recommending this even at the premium it goes for these days. I’ve enjoyed this, but I’m not exactly in a hurry to go out and buy a bottle.