Hibiki is a range of Japanese blended whiskies from Suntory (I had to look that up…). They produce the Yamazaki and Hakushu single malt whiskies and have a lot of varying styles, which is rather typical for Japanese distillers. With those styles of whiskies they can create their own blended whisky without having to trade casks. The Hibiki range is the result of these efforts. There are 12, 17, 21 and 30 year old version, but above the 17, it can get quite expensive!

Nose:
Light, with a clear wood influence. The wood is not as overpowering as it gets in some other Japanese whiskies. Plums, but also a slightly spicy fruitiness.

Taste:
Spicy again with lots of white pepper, chilli and wood dust. The sweetness comes through after the spiciness has faded a little bit. There’s a lot going on with spices fading and fruit coming up. There’re some sweet spices present too, clove. Quite viscous too!

Finish:
The finish is a little bit more quiet. It faded gently, but rather fast. After a few seconds you get a short revival of the chili pepper I found before. After that there is sweet wood that lasts.

This, for a change, is a blend from which I can get many flavours. There’s an incredible lot going on but all flavours are rather clearly marked. The 12 year old is a lot sweeter and has far less wood influence, and I think I like this one better. Especially the chili and fruit combination works very well for me. I’ll try to review the 12 year old soon, to compare notes.

Hibiki 17, 43%, Suntory, € 80 at Master of Malt

Find a bottle here.

Nose: 9
Taste: 9
Finish: 8
Overal experience: 8
Price/quality: +1

Total: 35 points