Buying Japanese Whisky in Japan 2018 Report

In the 2017 there were 428 comments by contributors for the Buying Japanese Whisky in Japan Report thread. A mighty effort especially from a small number of very active posters. My personal thanks to those guys.
In 2017 there were also 22,500 views of this thread so be in no doubt this post and the advice given is greatly valued by readers of TJWR. I should add that there were 12,000 views of the 2016 report during that 2017 as well.
So to our regular contributors and anyone else who wants to jump on board, I look forward to reading about your experiences of buying Japanese Whisky in Japan 2018!

Kampai

Brian AKA Dramtastic

631 thoughts on “Buying Japanese Whisky in Japan 2018 Report

  1. Just picked up three Chichibu bottles from Binny’s at Lincoln Park: (1) Single Cask 646 and (2) Single Cask 1487, both non-chilled and non-coloring, at $319.99 each, and (3) 2018 US Edition at $249.99. All single casks are gone and there were about 4-6 bottles of 2018 US Edition left if you are interested.

      • Next year I’ll run a parallel post, buying Japanese Whisky outside of Japan to the buying Japanese Whisky in Japan. So finer details like cask type will hopefully included by contributors.

      • Cask 646 is 8 years old and an ex-bourbon barrel with a total number of 171, ABV at 60.6%.

        Cask 1487 is 6 years old and mizunara heads with 239 bottles, ABV at 61%.

        Both are privy label bottles for Tokiwa Imports, the Japanese distributor of many Japanese whisky in US.

        2018 US edition is a mix of five bourbon barrels and one mizunara heads, 54.4%, 1,235 bottles in total.

        • Thanks James. Actually gives me an idea to run another post on readers opinions for whiskies they’ve bought or tried as I cannot afford or have access to every Japanese Whisky. Those 3 sound very cool and I’m especially interested in Chichibu that are getting close to 10 years old. I’ve tried a few at 9 years and 1 at 10.

  2. Scored a bottle of mars komagatake tsunuki aging 2018 for y8960. Also saw ichiros MWR for y6480 and still deciding if I should grab a bottle or not… Decision decision…

    • Also have the 2018 Tsunuki Aging on order for a little bit less with tax removed. I really like the first release so have highish hopes for the 2018.
      Does everyone else know about the 2018 Chichibu The Peated 2018 10th Anniversary?
      I’ve picked one up and with 11,550 there should be in relative terms plenty floating around. My bottle was Y12,000. These Peated Chichibu have never failed me.
      Also grabbed a bottle of the Akashi Sake Cask 3YO the distillery release one for Y5800 and the Kanosuke Distillery New Born 8 month 58% for Y3,000. Some nice color already in this New Born so looking forward to it.

      • Brian, have not picked any up yet so interested in your thoughts on Kanosuke New Born.

        Any idea on total number of Tsunuki Aging 2018?

        Picked up a Harmony 30th anniversary LE here in US for $125 pre-tax.

        • No idea of the Tsunuki Aging 2018 numbers sorry. I don’t have my bottle yet which, if like last time, will show the total number of bottles. Couldn’t find anything on Hombo’s Website.
          Kanosuke New Born same as the others, won’t have them for a week or 2 but will interested to see how it matches up to say Akkeshi of around the same age.

  3. Anyone’s thoughts on the Japanese rice whiskeys which technically can’t be sold as whiskey in Japan, but can be abroad. I’m seeing more and more of these pop up.

  4. Scored a bottle of Ichiro’s Malt & Grain world blend LE 2018 at 12,000 yen. I know it didn’t score high here but I actually enjoy it quite a lot. I was drinking it side by side with Hibiki Blender’s Choice and I preferred the Ichiro’s.

    • Looks like a new Mars Tsunuki aging was just released. I bought one on amazon, but can’t see much other info out there. Might be worth keeping an eye out for.

  5. Is there a new traveler edition of Ichiro’s Malt at Airport Duty Free stores? I have been seeing few people posted a picture of it online! Wonder how much it is for a bottle!

    • Purchased one at Narita Terminal 1 Duty Free on Tuesday for ¥30,000. Had about 8 bottles on display. Bottle lists a production of 610 bottles.

  6. So what’s the deal with The Kurayoshi, in the Sherry NAS, 8/12/18’s? It’s more expensive for the 12 than I can find the Yamazaki 12!

    Been seeing a bunch in DF around Europe (not , but I haven’t seen too many comments or tasting notes around here….

      • Got it… ugh, a little more research would have been useful for me! LOL.

        So, It’s Scotch that gets reblended with Matsui’s Japanese spirits and their “soft water”.

        Thanks Dram!

    • Because it’s Fake Japanese whisky. Japanese labeling laws allow them to import Whisky from other countries and bottle it in Japan and call it Japanese Whisky.

      There is no Kurayoshi distillery in Japan. The reason it’s abundant is because they can buy any imported whisky and slap a label on it. Then they get suckers, I mean tourists, to buy it.

      And if you think it still can’t taste bad, it tastes like crap. Cheapest bottom shelf whisky they can buy.

  7. Looks like Nikka Whiskey from the Barrel is is hitting mass markets in the US/Northern California.

    Costco is now selling these for $50 a bottle!

  8. Finally some good price here in Japan. Got two Hibiki Blender’s Choice for Y10,800 yesterday at the popular liquor store in Tokyo train station underground mall.

  9. Went to several stores today including Yamaya Ginza, Bic Camera, and some local shops. The only thing worth mentioning was the Yamazaki NAS at 4100 yen at Bic Camera Yurakucho. But they limited one per person. The staff just stocked the shelf when I arrive and by the time I left only 5 left. I grab one and it was flying out of the shelf.
    It’s tough out there to find some decent Japanese whiskies. Tougher than the previous years I have remembered…

  10. Best score of this trip so far. Went to my bartender friend’s bar and he let me have a shot of Yoichi 20, Hibiki 17, Hibiki 21, Hibiki Blender’s Choice, and Nikka Miyagikyo Mazanilla for total of Y6,800. Best hookup ever!!

    • Sweet!
      Inquiring minds I’m sure would like to know how you rate the Hibiki Blenders Choice vs the 17 and 21?
      What did you think of the Miyagikyo Mazanilla? I found it good but not great and the Yoichi Mazanilla downright funky and not in a good way. My notes have the Miya at 85/100 and the Yoichi at 78/100 and even that might be a little high for the Yoichi!

      • I was able to compare H17 and Blender’s Choice side by side with the bartender and we both agree that H17 is superior with no doubt. Blender’s Choice got more heat and less complexity which shows it is less aged. I had Hibiki 21 after the comparison and it blew both out of the water… until Yoichi 20 just killed them all.
        We both really enjoyed the Miyagikyo Mazanilla. It is very smooth and sweet. My friend he searched it on the web and saying that it has some as old as 50 yrs old malt mixed in and finished in the mazanilla cask for 18 month. I am not quite sure if that info is correct but it was pretty tasty!
        To me Yoichi 20>Hibiki 21> Mazanilla> Hibiki 17> Hibiki BC. I brought in Balblair 1990 for him to try and he prefers it to the M Mazanilla.

        • Thanks, have a whisky night tomorrow with the local group, may just crack our bottle of the Yoichi 20. I only have a dram left of my personal bottle and haven’t dared finish it in years. Still noses beautifully though!
          Personally I’d take the Hibiki 17 over the Miyagiyo Mazanilla cask any day of the week and although I think Hibiku 21 is better than the 17, for me there is only a few points in it. But hey, that’s the great think about whisky, different strokes for different folks!

  11. Mars Le Papilion fifth edition lottery sale application is now available on Mars Rakuten site. Lottery sale application result will be released on 12/5 and shipment will start on 12/7. Good luck!!

    • This one sold out much quicker than I expected. Their site was completely overwhelmed when the item went on sale, and I kept getting errors trying to check out, including it not liking my credit card despite having used it there previously. In the end they sold out before I could successfully check out, so congrats on getting through.

        • Is the one on the Akashi site a single cask?
          This whole Ghost Series thing is a load of marketing B.S! Seems all you have to do is pay someone to design a fancy label then up the price!

            • Akashi do bottle Single Cask OB, I just picked one up in Tokyo last week.
              And yep, there you have two 3 year old Single Cask Akashi both from the same cask type, bottled within one month of each other and you pay an extra Y3250 for the pretty label! LOL!
              Just as an aside, you could not call these two whiskies in Scotland as from what I’ve read the wood used in Saki Barrels is Cedar not Oak.

    • Also ordered a new Akashi sake cask 3 years old (400 bottles) from a rakuten site. The same bottle is also available from Akashi own website at ¥6,260. But the rakuten site offers free shipping.

      • Correction: not sure about total number of bottles for this one. 400 bottles is related to a private label of similar cask. Sorry for the confusion.

  12. Looks like Shinonaya did a lottery sale (on its site) on its private label Chichibu Ex-peated bourbon 6 years old last Friday. Its abv is at whopping 64.1%.

    Was traveling on that day so missed the application slot completely.

  13. Just bought Ichiro’s Kiyosato Field Ballet 28th and 29th anniversary editions from Shinonaya Ginza. ¥255k duty free. Not cheap but hate to let them go and regret later. With these I am done for this trip.

  14. I bought a few bottles of H12 in southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island at ~USD $100 each about two weeks ago. I assume they were new arrivals because there’s no way they’ve been on the shelf for 4 months. Not sure why they were available.

  15. Couple of good finds today in Fukuoka .

    Mars Let Papillon P.maacki 2018. 10,000 yen.

    Hibiki Blenders Choice – 11,000 yen.

    I’m a little sceptical about the Blenders Choice because they went NAS on it. But I’d like to give it a try .

    Found a liquor distributor shopwith a few TK 17, Yama 12 and several blenders choice bottles, but he wouldn’t sell them to me because he’s holding them for his regular bar owner customers. I can respect that. You should give priority to regular customers.

      • Hi, it was this liquor and cigar shop on the south side of Tenjin, Fukuoka area (Minami-Tenjin), don’t know the name of it, about a 5 minute walk from the Daimaru department store. It was their last.

        To answer your question about boxes, no, it didn’t. In fact when I saw the several Hibiki Blenders choice at the Liquor Distributor, they were in all in a Suntory shipping box, but boxless themselves.

    • Meant to try the Blenders Choice while we were in Tokyo but never got around to it.
      All Narita had of interest was the tarted up label Hibiki 21 for Y50,000 and the Kirin LE Blend 18YO Y32,000.

  16. My friend was able to score a bottle of Nikka TK 17 for Y15,000 and a TK 21 for Y22,000. He said the store still has 2-3 more of each. Wondering if these are decent prices to get a couple more. Of course we can’t go back to the SRP from 4 years ago…

  17. At HND (on my way to TPE), one of its DFS (right after security checks) has three bottles of Fuji Sanroko Blended whisky 18 years loroso cask Finish at 32,000yen if you are interested. They are tucked away at the bottom shelf so you may need to look for them a little. Otherwise, very dry here.

    • On your way to pick up some Kavalan!!?? I will be heading to Taipei in March but first I will be flying to Tokyo in 2 weeks and hopefully they will have some Hibiki 21 LE when I fly out!!

      • I am more interested in getting Omar Whisky, the second locally-made whisky, this time. Not familiar with it but I know part of the company/distillery is owned by government there.

        • I tried their bourbon and sherry standard release before. They are good but imo they are not quite there compared to Kavalan. They do offer more single casks now but they don’t have shops like Kavalan does. So you kinda have to go to local liquor stores to hunt for them. Still worth trying them out! The standard releases are pretty cheap at those mega grocery stores.

              • They just released 10th Anniversary version for Sherry, Port, and Vinho last month. Scored couple bottles at $105 USD each. I believe some of the Kavalan shops still have them. Good luck!

                • Just went to one of Kavalan Stores and bought three Vinho. Kavalan is running promotion sales on all its single casks with 10% discount. Each Vinho is NTD 3,150 after discount.

                  Btw, 10 year anniversary bottle is on Kavalan Sales Center stores, not distillery itself.

  18. Just made a lucky score in Osaka, Miyagikyo Manzanilla Wood Finish for SRP (15,000 yen). It was the only one they had, but considering that I’m seeing them for 40,000 yen now, it was a happy surprise.

    • Not so lucky as you were. Got a bottle of Yoichi Manzanilla Wood Finish for ¥22,000 from a local liquor store (a solid 60 min bus ride from Nagoya – no idea about the name of the town, went there with my local contact for other reason.)

      • About 45% above SRP isn’t bad. I’m seeing them sell for 40,000 yen. I would have bought it myself (to complete the set ). Saw a TK 17 today for 15,000 yen and passed on it. It was only last year I could still find these for 6,900 yen to 8,000 yen.

        • Just bought Miyagikyo Manzanilla Wood Finish for ¥24,000 (from an online source) so cost me ¥46,000 to get the set, appropriately 53% markup.

  19. Hi all

    Great to see all of the updates on what is becoming quite an adventure in itself to pick up and find Japanese whisky. I just came back from couple of weeks travelling around Japan and it was pretty limited for the most part in the shops and department stores i popped into. Amazing to compare how much harder it has become in the subsequent trips I have made to Japan in late 2015 and mid 2017 to find the whisky offerings.

    This time round I was very very fortunate to pick up a Hibiki 21 direct from the Yamazaki Distillery for 27000JPY (32K inc tax) when i was there last week. The distillery opens at 10 and it paid off that I got there just after opening. The lady at the counter said they had 10 bottles out for that day and i got the second last one. The last one was purchased by someone immediately behind me. I was also lucky enough to pick up a Yamazaki NAS for 4500JPY and one of the small 300ml distillery exclusive bottles for 1500JPY as well.

    If you are in the neighbourhood of the distillery and can get there early it may pay off. But i think i was just really, really lucky and timed it well. I went back again the following day to see if luck would strike twice; but it didn’t. I had to simply enjoy a few more paid tastings – which meant it really was a win-win situation either way. Happy searching everyone.

    • Thanks for the report and great score on the Hibiki 21.
      Just for interest sake this is what I am picking up in Tokyo this week. Sorry, not from any liquor store you could just walk in and grab yourself at least not all at once.
      Akashi 5 year 1st fill bourbon barrel 50% 500ml
      Akashi 10 year old sherry butt 60% 500ml
      Ichiro’s malt Chichibu TIBS 2015 62.3%
      Ichiro’s Malt On the way 2015 55.5%
      Saburomaru Moon Glow 43%
      Mars Komagatake 2011 TIBS 2015 61.1%
      Ichiro’s Malt & Grain 2018 WWA Winner Hanyu/Kawasaki/Chichibu 48.5%
      Mars KOMAGATAKE 27 years old American White Oak/Sherry Casks 46% 
      Mars KOMAGATAKE 1986 30 years old Sherry Cask 48% 

        • I gather you mean me(Beian) : ).
          I forgot, also Mars 2014 /2018 Papillon Miyamakarasuageha 60% Y10,000
          Akashi 5 year 1st fill bourbon barrel 50% Y5,800
          Akashi 10 year old sherry butt 60% Y13000
          Saburomaru Moon Glow 43% Y5000

          These are the one’s that are recent releases you may find now at a liquor store in Japan or at least Rakuten.

          I won’t go into the prices of the other one’s as they are older releases that I pretty much got for the retail price when new but sell for a lot more on secondary market now.

      • Just finished off the Mars 30 year Sherry Cask bottle at Bar K in Osaka. A really enjoyable dram. Going to bring home my Mars 27 this trip.

        Went to the Yamazaki Distillery today for the full tour. Wasn’t able to find anything at the gift shop (got there at 11 AM) But enjoyed a Yama 25, 18 and 13 year peated at their tasting room after the tour .

        Osaka is pretty much out of aged Japanese whisky, unless you want to pay a hefty price. Mostly visited the shops in Kita Shinchi and the department stores in Umeda.

        Have fun in Tokyo.

  20. Picked up couple bottles of Hibiki Harmony LE 2018 today in the states. I probably overpaid but I love that bottle design!! Anyone here got a bottle of this?

    • The knee-jerk reaction is that you’re overpaying for fancy packaging, with the contents of the bottle being no different than Hibiki Harmony. To add some perspective, though: a few years ago, people on this site used to mock the Kacho Fugetsu “Chrysanthemum” bottles at Duty Free. The Hibiki 12 sold for ¥10,000 and the 17 sold for ¥20,000, both a premium to prevailing retail prices. Fast-forward to 2018: those bottles now sell at auction for £600 (12) and £400 (17). Who’s laughing now?

      • I believe H17 is selling for more than a grand and H12 is about $800 now.
        This Harmony LE is only released in Europe and the US. Since it’s not being sold in Asia, some forums are selling for $700-800 in some Asian country… crazy huh… It’s essentially just a normal Harmony juice… but in a really fancy bottle…

        • Was looking at the most recent prices from whiskyauctioneer.com, which seems to be the most liquid market. That said, the 17 price might be a bit stale. The normal 17 is fetching £300+ now.

          • I know this post isn’t about a specific whisky but it is related. Ki Noh Bi has been releasing some limited quantities of their cask aged gins – aged in sherry casks formerly used to mature Karuizawa Whisky! Although it’s sold out everywhere in Japan, I wanted to let people know that there are a few bottles left at Changi duty free in Singapore. It’s selling for S$129. If any of you are flying through Singapore and love gin, this will be a special bottle to get (https://dekanta.com/japanese-gin-karuizawa-cask-release/). It was officially only released at Iseten in Tokyo and subsequently at Changi duty free.

  21. Appreciate all the feedback here. Just returned from three weeks in Japan. I went with low expectations as the last couple of trips were fairly sparse.
    Started off in Naha and lucked into a out of the way little shop who sold mainly sake. Had just received an allotment of Yamazaki NAS for the month (6 bottles) and didn’t have it on the shelf. Was going to graciously decline as I can only bring back a very limited amount (legally) of bottles but when my Japanese wife realized he was offering it for 4,000 yen I grabbed a bottle. Ever since I’ve only seen it for between 7,000 – 9,000.
    From there it was either very little of interest or unicorns at crazy prices. Liqour Moutain, looking at you.
    I would suggest that visitors who are collectors of whisky other than Japanese would do well to bring a good bottle not easily found in Japan and offer to do a trade with whisky bars who tend to get better allocations of the good stuff. I did this in Fukouka: a bottle of Canadian Club 40 for a bottle of Taketsura 21. Value of Taketsura was very fairly pegged at 25,000 yen which was about the value paid for my CC40. (That was his best trade option).
    From there it was pretty slim until I caved and bought a Blanton’s Gold at Hasegawa for around 7900 (I hadn’t seen better anywhere else).
    Finally, at Haneda I came upon a last moment Hibiki 21 duty free (50,000) after buying and returning a Hibiki Harmony Blenders Select (duty free) which I stupidly mistook for a Blender’s Choice. So glad it was an easy one to return the Harmony as 5 bottles would have resulted in divorce and possible problems with Canada customs. The Harmony, which by then was sold out, was literally grabbed off the counter by a guy on the hunt 😉

    • Thanks for the detailed report!
      I’ll be in Tokyo next week. Will stick my head in the door of any liquor stores I pass just to see what’s ‘not’ there. Fortunately our duty free allowance is already maxed out with bottles I’ve already pre-ordered. Included is a bottle of the Ichiro’s Malt & Grain(Hanyu/Kawasaki/Chichibu) for my whisky group that won the WWA as I was offered at the original retail price. At the time of release I thought it was overpriced as there is 5YO Chichibu in the mix but these days with the cheapest other bottle of this priced at twice as much as I’m paying, it was time to grab one as only 500 bottles. Cost is split 5 ways which makes easier cop.

    • You did a good job in a very adverse market. I’m basically calling it a Japanese whisky drought. Mind if I ask which bar you did a little horse trading with in Fukuoka?

  22. Hi Folks,

    Just got back to Japan, last night. In Fukuoka. Visited Bon Yo Liquor Store ,which had Akashi 10 Year Sherry Olorosso cask for 12,500 yen and a few bottles of Mars Komagatake limited edition for about 8,200. Plus they had one of those Akkeshi New Make small bottles. I think it was 3,000 yen. I grabbed one of each. Iwataya still had bottles of Mars Shinanotampopo on the shelf. Didn’t grab it because I have some already.

    • I’ve already opened up my bottle of the Mars Limited Edition 2018 and Lucky Cat ‘May’. Picking up a bottle I’ve pre-ordered of the Akashi 10YO as well as a bottle of Akashi 5 year 1st fill bourbon barrel 50% 500ml when back in Tokyo in a few weeks. The 10YO is the longest aged Akashi I have bought for at least 5 years ago and I think apart from the 27YO Mars about the oldest age statement whisky released by a Japanese distillery this year? Now that’s saying something about the current state of play.

    • Went to Oita city, in Kyushu for a couple of days. Found a bunch of liquor shops around the bar area (including Liquor Mountain and Liquor Express) none of them had anything of worth (or worth it at a reasonable price), except for a Kirin Kunpu 2016 & 2018 editions at 2,000 yen each. I did find another Lucky Cat May at Tokiwa Department Store for SRP. They still had some Komagatake Limited 2018 on the shelf as well.

      One fun find were these copper pot-still “The Blend of Nikka” bottle pendants I found in a small mom & pop. I think they were from the Blend of Nikka Maltbase bottles. Will go well with the 2 bottles I have.

      • I rate The Blend of Nikka Maltbase at least the 46%abv version and especially the 17YO. They seem to me to be Yoichi biased and even the NAS 46% version is closer in style to say Yoichi 10/12 than the current Yoichi NAS.

      • Went to Hita in Kyushu the other day. I went there last year and scored some TK 17, 21 and Yama 18. Sadly found nothing . Popped in a few shops and found nothing of worth except bottom shelf NAS material.

        However, I did score a Unicorn of sorts. An Ichrio’s Malt 8yr from Whisky Talk Fukuoka. A friend of mine went to the event and got it for me. I’m grateful for that because I’m seeing them selling for between $700 and $1400 now.

    • Just a note, for anyone shopping in Fukuoka. I went by Liquor Shop Bon Yo again today. They still had a few Mars LE 2018 bottles on the shelf (check the endcap), and they were selling for only 6,800 yen, before tax (no duty free there). They still also had the Akashi 10 Year Sherry Cask and the 5 year Bourbon Barrel.

      Also stopped by Yamaya, they had nothing other than the typical NAS bottles (and the Nikka 12).

      • Hello. Just went BonYo a few days ago. They still have White Oak Eigashima, Komagatake LE 2018… and I was mulling buying these vs. a lone Hibiki 21 (Y30k pretax). I was torn but felt I’ll regret it if I don’t buy the Hibiki 21 which I ended up getting it.

        Yeah, BonYo is a fantastic whisky source if you are ever in Fukuoka.

        • I’d say Y30k is a great buy for the Hibiki 21 and the appropriate choice.
          For myself sometimes desperate sometimes times call for desperate measures! Bought about 60% of a bottle of Hibiki 21 from the bar at the hotel I’m staying at for Y20k.
          Have checked out Takashimaya, Isetan, Keio departments stores, BIC Camera and Shinanoya all in Shinjuku. Isetan still has what seems to be an endless supply of their Mars Tsunagu Blend and a no age statement 61%abv Akashi from a French Wine Cask(sorry I forgot the exact name but there was quite a few on the shelf). BIC camera had the Akashi 5 year 1st fill bourbon barrel 50% for about Y5800 and also The Nikka Blend 12YO for about the same price. Takashimaya also had the same Nikka Blend but for about Y700 more than BIC Camera. BIC Camera also had a couple of new makes from one of the new Japanese distilleries. Keio had the Harry Cranes Blend 43% from Saburomra https://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=https://www.wakatsuru.co.jp/archives/861&prev=search. Shinanoya had sweet fuck all in regards to interesting Japanese Whisky but they get a lot of Shinanoya exclusive bottling’s of Scottish Whisky and different rums so still worth a look. My mate bought a A.D Rattray rum from Caroni bottling for Shinanoya for about Y23k(tax free). This one is a genuine 20YO rum so distilled 1997 bottled 2017 and 63%abv http://sarichiiiii.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-782.html

            • Yeah forgot about those and I think Shinanoya had them as well. Liquor Mountain Ginza has the Wakatsuru Moon Glow 2nd edition for about Y10,000. Liquor Mountain Ginza also had open bottles of sold out stuff such as a single cask Mars and the Kirin 12 Wine Cask Finished with the pay by the 10ml glass so if your near there and want to pay a few hundred yen just to try there is that option. They’re sitting in some shelving near the register.

  23. Has anyone been able to try the recently released Hibiki Blenders choice? Seems to be an industry release but readily available at bars in Japan. Japanese reviews are positive, and I generally enjoy wine cask finishes so I just picked up a bottle on Amazon at an inflated 18,000 yen (I believe the list price is 10,000). Not in Japan until next April but looking forward to trying next to the 17 and 21!

  24. So if you are a fan of Nikka Date (Miyagi province limited edition), I just got a word that they are being discontinued. They will be getting harder to be found soon… Such a shame… It is one of the best whiskies for the buck but won’t be long.

  25. Hi Folks, been a while. Haven’t had much to contribute, until now.

    Isetan Online store is offering a new Akashi exclusive, a 3 year blend, aged in a Cabernet cask. Price 11,800 yen.

    Doesn’t look like a limited run. So not going to run out to buy at that price point.

    • Mars Komagatake 2018 LE will go on sale on Mars Rakuten site at 10/1 12:00 am Japan time, which will be day time Saturday US. One bottle per person.

      • The latest Lucky Cat is there as well.

        Is 10,000 bottles really a “Limited Edition”?

        The Lucky Cat is just under 3400 bottles, though not single malt of course.

        • 10,000 bottles is only about 20-40 casks depending on the size of the casks in the mix. A drop in the ocean really.
          I recently saw a limited edition Scottish Single malt of ‘only’ 100,000 bottles and for some of the larger Scottish Distilleries that probably is a LE.
          Picked up a bottle of the LE for Y7600.

        • Hopefully means people can actually buy it to drink. Feels like so many recent Mars releases are out of reach unless you are online the minute it gets released or not concerned with price.

          I wonder also if this is the whisky they would have previously put out in the Nature of Shinshu series. Perhaps a rebranding and more bottles heading overseas? I hope not as I like the local wild-flower theme having spent a lot of time hiking in Shinshu.

      • Well just ordered one of each for the Mars bottles from Rakuten.

        I doubt they’ll sell out too quickly, before I get to Fukuoka, mid-October. But better to be safe than sorry. You never know in this crazy Japanese Whisky market .

        If I see more of them in Japan, I’ll probably pick up a couple more.

        Thanks for the tip.

    • Good to see you back METAMAN!!

      Reluctant to pull trigger on this. Isetan’s previous two Akashi bottles are underwhelming. I might try it in Nov, and get it tax free if I like it.

    • That Isetan mark up is always painful. They can get away with it on the Chichibu stuff, and the Mars single malts go pretty fast as well, but these Akashi stick around forever at that price. The previous two can probably still be found in some stores, though I think they’re finally gone from the online shop.

      • Did everyone know Nikka did there limited release for the year on the 26th? 4000 bottles each of Miyagikyo and Yoichi Manzanilla Wood Finish 48%abv.
        Yep that’s it for Nikka for the year as far as I know. Apparently they were Y15,000 on the release day if you could get one. Of course already double that price on the secondary.

        • My bartender friend scored one bottle of Miyagikyo Manzanilla. He is waiting for me to get to Japan to open it up!! I think we will be drinking it with a bottle of Kavalan Manzanilla to compare!!

          • In addition to these 2018 Yoichi and Miyagikyo manzanilla casks release for Japanese market, looks like Nikka has released 2018 Yoichi and Miyagikyo bourbon casks, and 2018 Yoichi and Miyagikyo Sherry casks (four bottles in total) for European market. Not sure about the logic behind releasing more in the overseas market than domestic.

            • I think if we take a step back, we’ll all realize this is much ado about nothing. Bourbon Cask? are you serious? that’s basically one of the most common casks available as is a Sherry cask. Finishing them in said casks is absolutely nothing to even bat an eyelash about… but alas, JP whisky is at a premium so people will keep snapping them up, esp when a storied name like Yoichi is distilling

  26. New release of Mars Lucky Cat Series (“May”) is available on one of the Rakuten sites. Bottles at 40%. 4 remaining if you are interested.

    • Thanks!

      Another stealth Mars release…

      I like that they try different things in an attempt to avoid the resellers buying everything up (first come, lottery, batched release, now through different shops).

      • How much were you able to buy a bottle for in USD? Is it worth a buy? I’m looking at it from a drinking perspective and a bottle to keep perspective!

            • Just over ¥5500 including almost ¥900 shipping within Japan, which is on the high end. For a non-age blended whisky it’s probably not worth it, but with only 3 left when I checked the collector in me took over…

              Strangely, this one was limited to 1 per customer, while the 2018 Komagatake LE was not.

              • Yamazaki 12 is still available as a standard retail product in most markets. Not cheap but available. Hakushu 12 is discontinued and prices have already sky rocketed on the secondary market so now more expensive than Yamazaki 12. Hakushu 18 is only available on the secondary market but generally cheaper than Yamazaki 18(only available on the secondary market) but neither is cheap for what was part of both distilleries standard age statement range. I should add that when I say only available on the secondary market you may still fluke a retail bottle at some mom and pop store in the middle of nowhere. In Japan when all were readily available the 12 year olds were about Yen6500 and the 18 year olds Yen19-20,000. For collect-ability I would currently rank from most to least Yamazaki 18, Hakushu 12(just because of the steepness of the price increase from retail to secondary), Hakushu 18, Yamazaki 12. Once prices of Hakushu 12 settle it will be Yamazaki 18, Hakushu 18, Hakushu 12, Yamazaki 12.
                Hakushu 18 would be my favorite of the lot and IMO an underrated whisky.

                • Thanks for the response! I’m still curious about the Mars portion of the question though. It was Mars vs. (Yamazaki and Hakushu)

                  • All Japanese whiskies outside of Japan and the vast majority in Japan are overpriced. I’d pay $90 just because that is the state of play these days. This one though IMO is not an investment but for drinking and it may not be that good anyway. In those instances I just make highballs with them.

                  • Binny’s is selling both Ash and Mint bottlings for $120, just for perspective.

                    Ben, If you’re interested in discussing building your Japanese whisky collection, I’d be happy to help you out. Contact me directly: tedfabiz at gmail dot com.

  27. There is a Mars Ltd Edition Komagatake Whisky available for reservation on Rakuten. Looks like a seller of local Shinshu produce, rather than the official Mars store.

      • No worries! If you like Mars there is also a reasonable deal inc. a single cask release from earlier this year (Y’s cask). Need to be happy with a few other cheaper blends, but not easy to find single cask Mars at a reasonable price these days.

    • I’d like to say thanks as well.

      I cant imagine that you just got lucky searching on Rakuten, so can we know how you found out about this? Was there an announcement somewhere?

      I don’t see any info on their product page for this, or another recent Tsunuki Aging bottle that is apparently an ANA in-flight purchase exclusive.

    • Thoughts on the Mars Lucky Cat Ash’99? Worth a buy? If so, how much, and buy a bottle to keep? I’m only familiar with Yamazaki and Hakushu, so forgive my ignorance.

  28. What do you thing the 17 and 21 are worth? I just called my local store and they have a bottle of each in their display case, but at what I feel to be exorbitant prices, about three times what they cost in Japan when I got them (I have one bottle of each in my collection). BTW, the also had a bottle of Whiskey from the Barrel at about double the price I last paid for it in Japan, but a good price considering how hard it is to find.

    • Hibiki 17 selling on the UK auction sites for nearly £400 now. The 21 is fetching close to £650. Madness.

      NB the NWFTB sold internationally is a 750 ml (at least here in the USA) vs the 500 ml on the shelf in Japan, so price expectations should be adjusted accordingly.

  29. Several Totalwines in California received one Nikka 17 and Nikka 21. Take a look at their website and see if any near you got them in stock. Good luck.

  30. Has anyone here tried the Chichibu Port Pipe 2016 Cask #1825 bottled for Isetan released earlier this year? If so what are your thoughts? Thanks!

  31. Have family over in Japan next month. Seems like this is the worst year for new bottles I can remember.

    Has anyone heard if Isetan are releasing another few Chichibu single casks in September as in previous years? Also, is the ‘Limited Edition’ Yamazaki 18 at Narita Airport still a thing? Used to turn my nose up T the price, but now it’s cheaper then buying the standard Yamazaki 18 in Europe might be worth a shout!

    Many thanks

    • I don’t know anything about September department store releases of Chichibu (but would love to). In the last 4 years of flying through Narita I haven’t seen a LE Yamazaki 18.

    • Not sure when in September you will be in Japan…just saw isetan September bottle (Chibidaru) showing up on secondary market…it appeared to be released yesterday 9/1 Japan time with only 140 bottles…

      • Yep, that was the one. Had it in my shopping cart but didn’t get it as the website crashed. Stupidly Isetan allowed 2 bottles per person – ridiculous considering the total bottles available

        • No wonder quite a few sellers with two bottles in the secondary market…average of their asking price is ¥80,000 per bottle…unbelievable…

  32. Hi, first time posting here. I’m in Japan now. I found nothing of note in Osaka. Just got to Tokyo and will make the rounds to the usual spots but I’m not hopeful. I’m particularly looking for anything from Chichibu. Anyone have any ideas or see anything recently?

    • Almost mission impossible…if you are less price sensitive, you can try Liquor Mountain in Ginza. I saw a couple of Chichibu there with significant mark up when I was there in July. Good luck.

      • Thanks for the LM Ginza suggestion. They had a few highly marked up age statement Nikka and Suntory bottles, as well as a Hibiki 30 in the back that was too ridiculously priced for words. But they did have several bottles of the Westland first edition Garryana at a reasonable price, which i scooped up. Go figure.

  33. Just ordered a bottle of Mars Komagatake 27 yrs old that is released earlier this year for around $700. I probably overpaid a little bit consider the release price was about $680 and I think this is not a terrible price for a 27 yr old Japanese whisky.

  34. Talked to a bar owner last night. She thinks the lack of supply is because the distilleries are stocking up for the 2020 Olympics. Not sure how true it is.

    • Just wanted to comment on that. I think it’s a load of bs. They’re just letting their expressions age. I think the future of Japanese whisky is basically limited age statements, and a proliferation of NAS, unless they create tons of age statements, which I think consumers will destroy as soon as they hit the shelves.

  35. Hi all,

    I’ll be passing through South Korea’s Incheon airport. Anyone pass through there recently? I’ll look for Japanese whisky, but I’m highly doubtful. If you’ve been, any recommendations on what to get for someone living in Seattle, WA?

    Thanks!

  36. Friends, I’ll be back in Tokyo the week of September 24th. If anyone is in town then and would care to meet up for a dram, please let me know.

    On a related note, the recent commentary on available supplies (or lack thereof) seems increasingly bleak. I’m thinking that my usual orbit of Bic Camera/Don Quijote/Shinanoya is unlikely to yield anything of interest. Any creative ideas about new approaches?

    • Negative I’m afraid….Suntory/Nikka have nothing to offer, the smaller concerns sell out on either their own or third party whisky sites before you can enter say the word Gaijin……
      I’ll be back in Tokyo on the 9th of November and I’m thinking most likely Japanese only releases of Scottish Whisky….

      • On that topic: any favoites? My only foray into the category was the disappointing Chivas Regal Mizunara.

        • That is an international release. I’m talking more along the lines of Scottish Single Cask Whisky for Japan only bottled for the likes of Japan Import System. Among others I got a cracking 40YO 1969 Single Sherry Cask Longmorn for about AUD$400 back in the day.

      • Brain, very likely I will be in Tokyo at that time. If your schedule permits and you don’t mind, maybe we could meet for a drink and I would get an opportunity to learn from the Master in person:)

    • Not in Sep…will be in a different continent…maybe we could grab a drink when both of us are in the Second City if you are interested?

    • Checked a couple of Shinonaya and Don Quijote with nothing worthy mentioning. Now back at NRT, which is more depressing…

      However, I did manage to order 4 bottles of Mars Double Cellars at ¥9,800 (tax included) per bottle from a Rakuten site, which is ¥1,700 more each compared with original price. I will pick them up when I am back here in Nov.

      In addition to Tsunagu and Moon Glow, I also picked up a couple of Nikka Black Extra Sherry and a couple of Asta Morris for Japanese market.

      Btw, I stopped by Liquor Express Ginza yesterday after and they still have two Kirin Kunpu 2018 editions at ¥2,100 each. I had already packed my luggages and did not want to bother repacking for them. Maybe next time…

      • Thanks for the heads up on the double cellars! Another store on Rakuten has them for 9100yen today which is reasonable (picked one up). Also picked up a few Mars Iwai Wine finish for 2700yen from Claude this morning but looks like they are now sold out.

        • Thank you all for the info here. I ordered two bottles of Iwai Wine Cask along with a bottle of Ichiro’s Malt White Label for Y3700. Love both and at Y2700 and Y3700 it is a no brainer to me to put in a order. As for Mars Double Cellars I did not pick up a bottle cause I think the price is still high for a 5 yr old whisky…

  37. Been to DFS at T1 South Wing…except for Mars Cosmo and Nikka Samurai bottle, everything is sold out including Fuji Sanroku.

      • I was only there for two days but will stop over again on my way back. So far,

        – Moon Glow first release (from Liquor Mountain Ginza 777)
        – Moon Glow 2018 LE (as above)
        – Two Mars Tsunagu (Mitsukoshi Ginza)

        I know doubts remain whether Moon Glow can be viewed as true Japanese whisky. But desperate time calls for desperate measure…I figure at least it has some Japanese juice in it…

        In addition, my contact in Japan did manage to get me:
        – BLACKADDER Chichibu 4 year Virgin American Oak released last month
        – Asta Morris Chichibu 6 years Bourbon released in May this year

        So I can not really complain. You pretty much need to get out Tokyo and hit places like Metaman did or have some local contacts willing to help you. Otherwise it is almost mission impossible…

      • Stopped by Liquor Mountain Ginza 777…nothing much but it does have Yamazaki 2016 Sherry Cask at a whopping ¥700,000 if you have the money and are interested…

  38. Just went to Mitsukoshi Ginza / Liquor Mountain Ginza 777 / Shinonaya Ginza. Pretty dry. Plenty Yoichi/Miyagikyo NAS, Chita NAS, Nikka Coffey Grain/malt and Moon Glow. The only thing worthwhile for me is Mars Tsunagu at Mitsukoshi Ginza. The store online site has stopped selling them so maybe it is running low on its stock. The Ginza store has 7 or so bottles. Will grab a couple of this on this trip.

    • I live in Tokyo for the moment. In the past six months, I haven’t seen any Yama 12, Haku 12, Hibiki 17, or Take 17 (or older) in a store except the occasional way over priced ones. If you can fine a Yama 12, usually the store asks for 20K to 25K yen. I’ve seen one at a Liquor Off going for 30K yen.

      I complained to some store owners about the impossible task of finding Y12, H12, etc. They told me they hadn’t had any to sell for quite a while. So it seems the supply itself is very limited, not just a demand issue.

      I visited Hakushu Distillery last month. There was no Hakushu for sale, not even the NAS.

      • How many bottles can someone traveling to Japan internationally take back home? It’s a limit of 2 per person, not luggage, right?

        • Depends on which country you’re returning to. The U.S. allows you one liter of spirits duty-free. You can bring more, but you’re expected to pay 3% import tax on the quantities above 1L. The tricky part is that it all has to be for personal consumption, not resale. So, quantities are limited. Unhelpfully, CBP does not specify how much is too much. It’s left up to the individual CBP agent to make that determination.

          In fairness to them, they’re a mixed bag. I once brought back 6 bottles of wine from Australia and tried to declare and pay for them, but was waived through by a friendly officer. This was back in the Obama era, though. I’ve noticed increased stringency under the current administration. I recently heard a guy with a bottle of NAS Hakushu in a Duty Free bag get cautioned by an airport employee to hide the bottle, as the CBP had recently gotten creative in finding ways to confiscate spirits.

          To further complicate matters, there may be conflicting state laws about liquor importation, which take precedence and which CBP is obligated to follow. To quote Frank Zappa, “The United States is a nation of laws, badly written and randomly enforced.”

          This isn’t legal advice, and I’m not saying I’ve ever done this, but if you’ve got some cojones you could just stuff as many bottles as you’d like into your baggage and hope you don’t get randomly selected for inspection. It’s a roll of the dice, though.

  39. Dramtastic and METAMAN,

    Have you guys by any chance tried Mars Komagatake single cask #619 (distilled in 1989 and bottled in 2013, American white oak)? If so, any thoughts.

    I might be able to get a hold of one on my upcoming trip. Brian, I know you think generally very highly of AWO cask by Komagatake but would like to get your (and Metaman’s) views on this one before I pull the trigger.

    Much appreciated!!

    • Cheapest in Australia at the moment is 200 bucks. A week or so ago they were around $180 but now most liquor stores including our biggest discount retailer are selling for $249!

    • I’m not sure what you’re referring to. It was $149.99 before, and it’s still $149.99.. The difference in price b/t box and no box is silly..

    • It was $149.99 before, and it’s still $149.99. Not sure what the price difference b/t box and no box is all about..

    • I am glad I loaded it up at $85 each just couple months ago. Now it’s really hard to come by in my area… Price in Japan has jumped up as well… not sure what’s happening with Yamazaki 12…

        • I’m honestly a little skeptical of this “shortage”. I found 37 bottles the other week for $79.99 each, and decided not to pull the trigger on any of them.. But they’re all gone now, haha. Hoarders!

          • I do see Hakushu 12 less and less, but more Yamazaki 12 here, and some of the Binny’s here start to limit the number of bottle each can buy.

            Personally, I prefer Hakushu 12 more than Yamazaki 12 so do not bother loading up too many Yamazaki 12.

            Will stop over in Tokyo couple of times in next couple of weeks and be interested to see what I may find…

              • USA.

                There seems to be some confusion on this board between the predominantly USA and Australian posters (and associated different currency values)

                • On Dekanta, Yama 12 did a single jump from $US150 to $250 a few days ago.
                  Dekanta prices are over the top, but the salient point is that Hakushu 12 did a similar thing just before the discontinuation was announced.
                  Might be nothing, but looks suss?

                  • Most of Japanese secondary market for Suntory products are up, likely as a reaction to the news of suspensions of Hibiki 17, Hakushu 12, and annual Yamazaki LE for 2018.

                    Not sure if Dekanta price is a good indicator of the market trend though…

  40. Hi all!
    I’m relatively new to the Japanese whisky “game” but got hooked within the minute!

    I now own:

    1x Kirin Fuji-Gotemba ‘Fujisanroku’ 2016 Limited Edition Oloroso Cask Finish 18 Year
    1x Hibiki 12Y (no box)
    1x Suntory 1981 – Kioke Shikomi Pure Malt – 750ml
    1x Nikka Whisky — nikka g&g kabuto samurai special edition
    1x Yamazaki 2017 limited edition
    4x Yamazaki 12y (miniature bottles 5cl)
    4x Hakushu 12y (miniature bottles 5cl)

    Of course I’m keeping close eye to the developments of this market and actively looking for new limited editions to arrive.

    • So when did you get into the “game”? Because that’s quite an extensive collection you have there, especially since Hibiki 12yr was discontinued 2015..

      • Hi Ben!
        About 3 months ago.

        The Hibiki 12yr was my first bottle (which i overpaid btw…), the last bottle I’ve bought is the Kirin Fuji-Gotemba ‘Fujisanroku’ 2016 Limited Edition Oloroso.
        According to wine-searcher.com , the average retail price for the Kirin is 650EUR, and I’ve bought it for 375EUR, so that was a nice deal I guess 🙂

        • That wine-searcher price for the Fujisanroku 18 is based on a single bottle for sale in the US for $700. Given that this was in ample supply at literally every Duty Free store in Narita Airport during my last trip through (see my 3/16 post above) for the standard ¥32,000, I’d say that your cost basis is a bit high, and the person selling for $700 is having a laugh.

          As a more general principle: lots of posters on this message board are probably sitting on hefty “mark-to-market” gains, given valuations based on the recent price spikes. Crystallizing those paper profits is a bit more complex. I’m not sure about the regulatory regime in other countries, but I can tell you that America generally (and my home state of Illinois, specifically) has a lot of laws that make it very difficult for an unlicensed individual to sell alcohol of any sort.

          That said, anyone may have all my bottles of Hakushu 12 for the ridiculous Dekanta price of $500 😉

          • Agreed with NineteenEightyTwo. I wouldn’t buy anything from the secondary market.. It’s just kinda dumb unless you have tons of money on hand, or just want to flaunt..

          • There is a slight difference in terms of what Kitzen bought and what is available in DFS at NRT. He bought 2016 LE while bottles currently at NRT DFS do not have any vintage year on them, though the juice could be the same…

            • I noted as much above. Has anyone been able to establish what, if any, difference there is between them?

              Assuming the 2016 bottle is relatively more desirable: what type of price premium is that worth? Presumably not +52%, which is implied by €375 at the current €/¥ rate.

              It’s a free market, and anyone can pay anything they like for any bottle. Certainly, legitimate rarities and discontinued bottlings would be expected to fetch a premium in the secondary market. However, a >50% markup on a product that is apparently plentiful is ludicrous.

              • I do not dispute the markup is hefty and somewhat like Dekanta price.

                That said, we are in an imperfect market. Consumers may be subject to various constraints. For example, we may have contacts in Japan, and have the abilities/means/time to travel to Japan frequently o make the purchases. But not everyone does. I do not know facts and circumstances pertaining to Kitzen. Kitzen might not be able to travel through NRT for whatever reasons maybe and thus the abundance of that product there is irrelevant to him. I am sure as more time he spends in this “game”, he will become more knowledgeable.

                Personally, I think DFS price of 32,000¥ for a blended whisky is ridiculous to begin with, but this is the reality of the Japanese whisky market.

                • Are you asking me to check my whisky privilege? 😉

                  But seriously, I don’t care where you live; if you’re buying €375 whisky for consumption, you’re price-insensitive, and God bless you. And if not, you’re buying it for speculation, and in this case you’re getting ripped off. There seems to be a bit of “greater fool theory” around Japanese whisky currently. The problem is: eventually, you run out of fools.

  41. Picked a couple of Yamazaki 12 at a local Binny’s at $89.99 each (pre-tax) yesterday. The bottle has a newly-designed box consistent with that of Hakushu 12 for US market. Checked several Binny’s and other local liquor stores – no Hakushu 12 at those Binny’s and one local liquor store has one bottle of Hakushu 12 with no box at $99.99 pre-tax.

  42. Saw some bottles of Hakushu 12 at a Japanese super market chain in San Jose selling for $250 a bottle with a hand written sign that said “discontinued” under the bottles… Unbelievable. Just 6 months ago, I saw a bottle of Hakushu 18 for $250…

    Yamazaki 12 selling for $199 a bottle there as well. I have a hard time believing that those bottles will be going anywhere anytime soon..

    • Well I just saw Yama 12 going for $169 in Beverly Hills, so I guess Beverly Hills isn’t the most expensive shopping district in the world. 🙂

    • Oh they will go! Some people will pay for that kind of premium since it is discontinued and actually cheaper than the prices on the streets in Japan!

    • For those in San Francisco/CA, looks like K&L have restocked on Haka 12 for $99 per bottle. The website currently shows more than 36 bottles in redwood city/sf/main warehouse.

      I hope this means that costco will be getting another distribution soon too.

  43. So I was told that Suntory is putting out an annual limited release Hibiki NAS called blender’s select this September and it is a blend using averaged 15 yr old and some more than 30 yr old malts. The price will be 10,000 yen. I am asking my local bartender friend to order a bottle for me to try! And there will not be a 2018 Yamazaki Limited Edition. That 4 yr run is officially ended… I fully expect them to put out something special for 2020 Olympics and it may be hitting on the street later in 2019.

      • Have to say, the marketing/branding department at Suntory continues to leave me scratching my head. “Master’s Select” vs “Blender’s Choice?” Maybe, to further muddle things, they can release a “Master Blender’s Select Choice” in 2019?

  44. It’s OK. Better than Saigo Don (And Twin Alps), but not as good as Cosmo, or Lucky Cat, as far as Mars Blends go. Still not worth 5,000 yen. 2,500 yen probably. But if you’re curious, that’s not crazy expensive (compared to Dekanta)

  45. Anyone here tried the Mars KBP? My friend picked up a bottle for me for Y5,000. Which sounds pretty decent for a very limited release. I tried searching on the web but haven’t seen any reviews yet. Wonder if I should ask him to grab another bottle!

  46. Picked up some Ichiro Malt limited edition world blended whisky at Tokyo Station. Also picked up a bunch of miniature Yama/Haku 12 at Yamaya.

  47. Similar random crazy story. Before I really started getting into Japanese whisky, years ago, I was just picking up Nikka & Suntory bottles. The first time I saw an Ichiro’s Malt Card series at a Fukuoka liquor store, I thought to myself “That’s a stupid name for a Whisky, who would buy that?!” And never picked it up.

    Live and learn.

  48. You are correct.

    Speaking of crazy items up for sale. WhiskyPort.Jp is offering, for $2500, a chance to buy a set of 30 Bottles from the new Shizuoka distillery, 6 to be released each year for the next 5 years. So you get 6 x 1 year, 6 x 2 year..etc….all the way through 6 x 5 year bottles. Granted that comes out to about $84USD per bottle, so the price isn’t outrageous. But OTOH, you have no idea what you’re getting until it ships out each year, good, bad or mediocre. If you’re interested in buying the subscriptions go on sale June 5th Japan time.

    • Not to bad I guess but I think I’d be happier buying them piecemeal 1 bottle per year of release and if I liked any of them then decide if I wanted another.

      • This is crazy about Japanese whisky market. When its new subscription came up a couple of years ago, I thought it was too much of a gamble to sign up for 30 bottles from a unknown new distillery so I didn’t go for it at the time. And now they want to even charge right to subscribe these 30 bottles… Personally, I would rather pay 10,000 yen at the time for the right to break the subscription contract if I don’t like any of its first year releases…

        • Speaking of random crazy, when they were first released(over a few years in total) I could have bought the whole Ichiro’s Card Series for about USD$7,000. I bought the colored and monochrome Jokers which were the last releases for US$380! Unfortunately we are living is a Japanese whisky world gone mad!

          • I’d be happy for others to weigh in but even though it won an award that blurb does not convince me it is Japanese made.
            If I bought some very good Scottish whisky, aged it in Japan and the bottled it with a Japanese label who could really tell where it was from only that it was worthy of an award?
            Speaking of fake Japanese whisky Kurayoshi has a stand at Whisky Live Brisbane at the end of the month. Wonder if the peeps at the stand will fess up to the fact it’s from Scotland. This stuff is also being flogged at duty free in Sydney in the Japanese whisky section.
            P.s if you add a certain amount of off site links they come through to me for admin approval first so you don’t have to send it twice : )

            • The distillery released its single malt product under the name of “Saburomaru.”
              And Kurayoshi has made its way to US as well and they are everywhere…

              • Sorry but I removed your link as that blog is not welcome here.
                Moving on from that to Saburomaru, again this is not proof they distilled any whisky themselves. There is that bottling that is under the Saburomaru label that has been doing the rounds on the auction circuit claiming to the be the oldest Japanese whisky bottled. As far as I know it is only a claim that it was distilled in Japan.
                It has been common practice in Japan for at least 100 years for certain companies to buy whisky from Scotland and re brand it as Japanese.
                I think Meta suggested a while back the I post something about real vs fake Japanese whisky. I even remember(though vaguely) drawing up a list.
                So….I will do something similar.
                Nikka – Almost certain to be Japanese made with some conjecture over Nikka Pure Malt White(peated) that may, or may not contain some Scottish whisky.
                Suntory – Japanese made.
                Chichibu – Almost all Japanese made unless certified by Ichiro-san himself to contain some whisky from outside of Japan.
                Hanyu – Japanese made
                Kawasaki – Japanese made
                Golden Horse(from the family that bought us Hanyu/Kawasaki) unless a single malt more than likely with some Scottish whisky in the blend.
                Karuizawa – probably some whisky from outside countries in their blends going back to the early days(50 years ago) but all the expensive stuff you see at auction Japanese made.
                Kirin – Buyer beware. A lot of blended stuff have whisky from Japan and outside. Look for labels that have Kirin-Seagram there can be a mix of whisky’s from any number of countries outside of Japan.
                Eigashima – Japanese made as far as I know.
                Mars – probably some Scottish whisky in the blends but most of what you will find over the last 5-6 years or long age single malt is Japanese made.

                Outside of the above anything could be the reality!

  49. I think it is 4 years old. Its cask number is 2008, which might lead to the confusion. It was distilled in March 2014.

    • Yep, 4 year old and again we can see one of the issues getting older age statement bottling’s from the smaller Distillers. Why wait 10 years or more to get a return on investment when you can sell out a 4 year old bottling in a matter of minutes….

      • With only 182 bottles after just 4 years (3-4 times fewer than previous releases in the series of a similar age), either there’d be nothing left if they waited 6 more years (I guess this is the “rapid aging” effect of the Yakushima cellar?) or they didn’t empty the cask?

        Given that the cost isn’t much different than the previous release maybe it’s the latter.

        • I’m wagering didn’t empty the cask as we are only talking a total of 127.5 litres which is roughy 60-70 litres less than the smallest casks normally used for whisky storage.

    • Just tried sharp on 19:00 pm Japan time with no luck, all gone in a few seconds…not sure if how many of 182 bottles were allocated for web sale…

    • What a load of marketing spiel! New and exiting???? a member of the Suntory PR team(of coarse)!!!
      “The blend will come in 700ml bottles, at 43%, and will initially be released for the domestic Japanese market, destined for on-premises sales. At the moment, there is no plan to launch the new expression overseas. ‘The Hibiki Blender’s Choice will be under a limited allocation,’ Ozawa says, so bottle numbers aren’t expected to be huge.”
      Wow, isn’t Suntory’s PR team now rushing to make excuse’s followed by a not so convincing argument as to why we should pay a premium for NAS offering’s over discontinued Age Statement Bottling’s?

  50. OK, head’s up for those people in the US (or have friends with access to friends int the US).

    A large shipment of Hak 12’s will be supposedly coming in to the US this week, if it’s not already here, at least on the West Coast. Check your Costco’s and liquor shops for new supplies. Don’t know what they’ll price them at, with all the fear mongering of discontinuation, but at least it’s an opportunity to stock up before things get even crazier. GLTA

    • oh great! How do you get your info?! Do you have any info on if and when Hibiki 17s will be shipped over? 😉

      • Yeah, saw K&L put it on their site and raised the price by $20 bucks to $99. I grabbed a couple from them last month when we were discussing if this was truly happening for $79.99. This is just price gouging. When supplies are still good.
        Sadly people will pay whatever they list because FOMO will drive the market.

  51. Unfortunately on my trip to Kyoto I couldn’t find the Hakushu 18. But my local Liquor store is selling it at $300 (excl. tax) – 3 bottles left. Is it worth picking up at that price? What do you think?

    • I think it’s a good buy at that price. If you’re able to, it’s worth trying to buy all 3 bottles to see if they’ll cut you a break – offer $250/each and they’ll probably meet you in the middle at $275/each.

      I paid $250 + tax for my last bottle about 6 months ago.

    • They are selling for more than that on the auction sites. As recommended, buy 1 or all 3. For mine the most underrated Japanese single malt.

      • Thanks for sharing your views. I have a coupe of bottles of the Hakushu 12. Now I know this is subjective, but is the 18 year so much better as to demand more than double the price?

        • It’s never about twice the price is it twice as good?(law of diminishing returns.) I’ll put it to you this way, I would rather have 1 bottle of the 18 than 2 of the 12. The 12 is good but I think the 18 is special.These 2 remind me of Talisker 10 and 18(peated whiskies also). You would be perfectly happy drinking the 10 but the 18 has subtleties that really deliver greater satisfaction over time.

  52. OK, so here’s a possible twist in the saga of the disappearing Hakushu 12 (and possibly the Hibiki 17). According to my friend who works as a buyer at one of the largest liquor shops on the West Coast, the Beam Suntory rep told him that Hakushu 12 supplies will still be coming in at regular supply levels in the US throughout the year, and next. That while there is a shortage of product, it’s not a shortage to completely discontinue the Hak 12 completely, just in certain markets. Supposedly this includes Australia, parts of Europe, maybe China.

    Is it true? I can’t say, unfortunately, time will only tell. But the fact that they announced a cutback in production has driven the price to insane levels all over the world. So even if it does come in regularly in the US, we won’t see it cheap (except maybe at Costco).

    Could this be true? Possibly.

    • Interesting marketing strategy to cover most of the world except for home country…

      True or not, the current US price for H12 whether at Costco or Binny’s here are very reasonable, and the price for Japanese whisky in the foreseeable future (and possibly long run) will continue to trend upwards. Considering this, I will continue to stock up H12 at the current price.

    • My thought when first announced on this thread was, yes discontinued in Japan this year but, ambiguous discontinued outside of Japan….

      • I got the impression from the wording (and a few bits of info) was that it is discontinued, but they have stock which will be released until at least 2019 every so often. However it looks like every single bottle that was “normally” priced has been bought up since the announcement, and in auction it is already going up a lot based on the news.

        • Today (28/5) my friend and I participated the Yamazaki distillery tour at 11am. We of course came early wanting to go to the gift store and pick up some goodies, if available. A line had already formed and at 10am sharp they let us us. The collection for sale was all standard stuff, available at any Japanese supermarket. Even the ‘distillery only’ bottle was marked ‘sold out’. Upon asking we were told there was nothing at the back or under the counter. With this disappointment we started the tour at 11 and then went to the tasting bar to sip on some of their amazing offerings. At around 1, just before leaving we saw a couple walk away with the ‘distillery only’ bottle. So we ran up to the gift store and although all those bottles had been grabbed, they were replacing them with the 2017 Limited Edition for ¥10,800. We promptly picked up 2. So the lesson is to check at the store after each tour ends. You may get lucky!

          • Fantastic tip! Was there a 2 per person limit for the 2017 LE bottles? I enjoy it quite a bit and really can’t justify picking up anymore bottles of Hibiki 17 (my usual drinker) at current prices, so I’m looking for a replacement.

            • The ‘hard limit’ is one per person for the LE bottle. But try your luck as it didn’t seem to be strictly enforced.

    • Metaman you could be right. Can’t find Hak 12 any where in Australia. But, lots of yama12 . Two of my local Dan Murphy near Brisbane have lots of Yama12, one has 16 bottles and the other has 17 bottles. I am glad that I Bought 2 for $179.99 each yesterday. Dan Murphy just change their price to $249.99 from today (1/7).

  53. It’s getting harder to find Hakushu 12 in the states now after news broke out… My local bartender friend in Tokyo is having hard time locating bottles locally… He asked me if I can bring a few from the state side next time I fly to Japan. It’s just funny that I will be bringing Japanese whiskies from the US into Japan… It used to be the other way around…well supposed to be!!!

    • Coals to Newcastle! On a related note, I noticed (with some amusement) that Horigami-san had a bottle of Toki on the shelf at Zoetrope. I quizzed him about it and he said he had someone bring it back from the U.S., as people in Japan were interested to try it. Seems a waste, given the relatively poor quality compared to the rest of the treasures he has behind the bar. That’s completism for you.

      • And how are the treasures at Zoetrope these days? Last time I was there a couple of years ago, sure there was plenty of whisky, but no Karuizawa or Hanyu and almost no single or Vintage Casks from Suntory or Nikka…..

        • I was there a few weeks ago and he’s still got a few Hanyus, plus a few hidden treasures you have to ask him for, like the Hanyu made for Zoetrope. But no vintage single casks from Suntory or Nikka .

          • Good to know but still along way from what was on offer when I first started going there….
            Speaking of Tokyo whisky bars, has anyone come across any not so well known one’s with a good range of rare Japanese whiskies?
            These days I think I may have a better Japanese whisky bar in my home than almost any of the one’s in Japan.

        • Been walking around the narrow streets in Gion, Kyoto looking for mom and pop stores selling vintage Yamazaki/Hibiki. Had some luck but prices were very steep. Liquor Burn had Yamazaki 12/18 at around ¥19000/60000. Hibiki 21 was in-stock at the crazy price of ¥60000.

          We moved on and found Liquor Express (close to Steakhouse Jiro)
          selling plenty of yamazaki 12 and Hibiki 17 (15+ bottles of each). They were priced at ¥15800 and ¥39800 resp. Yamazaki 18 was for around ¥60000. Also had Nikka Taketsuru 17 and 21 for ¥16800 and ¥29800 resp. Also has quite a few bottles of Hakushu 12, but for ¥39,800!! They had one last bottle of Yamazaki 2017 LE for 19,800, which I bought.

          Walked to another store close by and they also similar inventory but also had the Mars Komagatake Sherry & American White Oak 2011 (aged for 3 years) and the Mars 2011 Komagatake Zenkoji Memorial Edition for ¥19800 each.

          What are you me thoughts on these two from Mars. I know they are limited editions, but are they worth the price?

        • Admittedly, I had never visited back in the glory days. However, I was thrilled with the 2000 Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt, “Shot Bar Zoetrope 3rd Anniversary” (Rum Wood Finish, Cask #9800) that I got to try during my last visit. So long as there are still bottles like that open to taste, I have a hard time complaining too much.

  54. Whiskyport.jp had an Asta Morrison 6yr Chichibu go for sale online at 12PM Japan time, today. And it sold out in literally 1 minute. Didn’t get it, despite my efforts.

    I expect we’ll be seeing these with after market prices very soon.

    • I gave up any hope of getting Chichibu from any original market source long time ago…unless you have good contact in shinonaya or liquor industry, it is a mission impossible…

    • I managed to get it into my cart and get to the first check out page (select shipping address, etc.) before being informed that it was sold out. I’ve bought from whiskyport before and only needed a couple clicks to get through the process, but no luck this time.

      My experience with other sights (for example Isetan) has been that once you enter the checkout process the item is locked down for you for some amount of time, but whiskyport is a sprint to end if you want to grab one of these rare bottles.

  55. Went to Nagasaki 2 days ago and there was absolutely nothing. Seems Nagasaki is a major port for cruise ships from China, so anything that might have been there was cleaned out.

    I went shopping in downtown Fukuoka, yesterday. Everything was pretty much out of stock that would be considered worth getting. However, Bon Yo in Maizuru had 2 bottles of the Fuji Sanroku 18 year blend small batch for 20,500 yen + tax, which is about 2500 yen cheaper than buying it a Yaymaya, near Kego Park, tax free (for 24,900 yen). Still didn’t pick it up. Felt it wasn’t worth it.

  56. I was in Osaka and Kobe for two days, nothing in Osaka (did not really look). At Kobe SOGO, I found the Mars Nature of Shinshu Dandelion at normal price (8964 tax included). Pretty sure they have a few more in storage.
    Off to my next stop (Fukuoka).

    • Keep an eye out for the Dandelion (Shinanotampopo) at the Duty Free on your way home. Was only ¥7,930/bottle last time I was there.

    • Yeah, I also noticed that Dekanta has jacked up their Hakushu 12 price to $600, and it doesn’t even appear that they have full-sized bottles of Hibiki 17 on there anymore.

      • At $600 I would rather to get two bottles of Hakushu 18! The price on Hibiki 21 is also jacked up as well. Well, at this rate we will see Yamazaki 12 disappear and Yamazaki 18, Hakushu 18, and Hibiki 21 being impossible to find! Those Duty Free prices suddenly look good now! I thought the secondary market prices had peaked earlier this year but I was wrong again…

        • In the old what I’d rather get for x dollars, for $600 I’d rather a case of Nikka From the Barrel which I prefer to both Hak and Yama 12

      • Dekanta has no morals. They tried selling Mars KBP, a 2,500 yen product meant to raise relief funds for the victims of the Kumamoto earthquake, for $500, as soon as it was released. It was only after they got shamed online about it, they dropped the price to $100.

        Sad that some US retailers look at Dekanta’s pricing structure for reference on how to sell their own bottles .

  57. Well, here it is, according to Nomunication (via Nikkei News) Suntory is officially discontinuing Hakushu 12, along with Hibiki 17.
    https://www.nomunication.jp/2018/05/15/its-official-hakushu-12-and-hibiki-17-are-being-halted/

    I haven’t found one Hibiki 17 full size bottle in Japan. But I picked up a bunch of miniatures. It’ll have to do as my bunker supply. My guys in LA, just grabbed me a couple of Hakushu 12’s with the new box. I’ve already got a few put away. Plus grabbed a bunch of mini’s here in Japan to enjoy when things get tight. Good luck to everyone else, hope you get to find a few for yourselves.

    • What are the prices on those Hibiki 17 mini now. I was able to scored a few earlier this year at ~900 yen each. There were plenty of them back then and I wish I picked up more… Oh well. I did score a case of Hakushu 12 so I think I am good there.

      • The cheapest I’ve found was about 600 yen at an old mom + pop in Kurume. Usually I find it between 750 to 850 yen. Sometimes tax free.

        • Those are great prices!! I asked my friends in Japan to look after those Hibiki 17 mini and hopefully they will be able to find some for me..! Fingers crossed!!

    • Hak 12 up until now has had a decent supply outside of Japan and still a few retailers in Australia with stock(no doubt will change quickly). Hibiki 17 has had minimal supply anywhere for a while so I doubt many people had the opportunity to stock up recently.
      I don’t have any Hak 12 and not sure whether I will pick up any yet(probably should as I don’t really rate the Distillers reserve). Have a bottle of Hak 18 I picked up in Japan a couple of years ago for Yen24k. Have a couple of bottles of HB 17 including one of the older labels. Have a few mates that have cases of Hibiki 17 and 21 so best bet for me is to stay friends with those guys : )
      Noting the commentary about Suntory wishing to concentrate on quality not quantity I think they are going to struggle. Hibiki Harmony is not a patch on any of the age statement bottling’s. The Master’s Select I like a lot but I travel overseas a few times a year so easy for me to get as a travel exclusive duty free. One online retailer in Australia sells it. Not sure how they get it, though I think they pick them up at the airport then they retail them at 85 bucks more than duty free.
      Yamazaki Distillers Reserve for me at least shows some of the Yamazaki distillery character.
      That’s it though. Along with a few blends this is all Suntory has to offer.
      Lets go back a 4-5 years ago or more and we had on the shelves in Japan and certain international markets:
      Yamazaki 10,12,18.
      Hakushu 10,12,18
      Hibiki 12,17,21
      Chita 12
      You had annual releases such as Heavily Peated, Bourbon Barrel, Mizunara and Sherry Cask Yamazaki/Hakushu.
      Taradeshi Genshu(distillery releases) Hakushu/Yamazaki 10,12,15,20 from different barrel types. Some of these would make it into stores.
      Single Cask Hakushu/Yamazaki for the likes of Isetan/Takeshimaya/Shinanoya.
      If you were in the right bar you could even possibly sweet talk the owner the sell you an Owners Cask Single Cask. I did.

      Nikka, I don’t rate the NAS from Yoichi/Miyagikyo with the Miya being slightly better but we used to have:
      Yoichi/Miyagikyo 10,12,15,20.
      Age statement Taradeshi Genshu(distillery releases) of the key malts.
      A number of age statement Taradeshi Genshu(distillery releases) single cask and batch release 500ml and 180ml bottles
      Several Yoichi/Miyagikyo single cask offerings a year available online from the Akashi store.
      The annual Yoichi/Miyagikyo Vintage offerings that used to sell for about Y20k.
      Thank god Nikka From the Barrel is a never fail.

      We are paying more and more and getting less and less. I personally find the current and coming state of affairs in regards to the big two Japanese whisky producers very sad indeed!

      • Not to disregard your thoughtful consideration of this issue, Brian, but a matter of practical concern for those of us frantically stockpiling Hakushu: better to buy the newer bottles in the box, or older bottles sans box (from a collectability/resale perspective)? Open to hearing all opinions on this.

        • Mate I seriously couldn’t tell you. The very idea that Hakushu 12 will become a collectors item is quite bizarre. I like it, it has a distinct character but there are plenty of good aged statement Scottish Whiskies at the same price point and certainly in Australia where Hak 12 is $AUD179 retail many that a considerable cheaper. So Hak 12 isn’t a superb rare single cask that I would look at paying extra for on the resale market. I’d rather buy new stuff from Mars, Akashi or some of the other new Japanese distilleries that are coming online.
          However, we do live in a very strange world when it comes to Japanese whisky and although anythings possible, I would almost be sure that there is a limit to what anyone would pay for a standard age statement bottling even a discontinued one.

          • Agreed. One can look to the Yoichi & Miyagikyo 10 & 12 year discontinued bottles for reference on price demand after the bottles were discontinued.. Or even the Hakushu 10, Hibiki 12.. The secondary market price will go up initially because of the news, but there will be a very tight cap on how high the price can rise. At the end of the day, can’t imagine many people wanting to pay THAT much more for a 12yrs Hakushu.

            On another note, I anticipate Japanese whisky demand to soften severely. Simply put, if there is less exciting output from distilleries, prices are too hide, and bottles too scarce – demand will naturally just start fading as consumers get tired of it. It’s a bubble about to burst in my opinion..

          • I take your points, all. I’m personally saddened by this recent turn of events; Hakushu 12 was one of my favorite bottlings of the entire Suntory range. I always thought it superior to Yamazaki 12, certainly. And I have never re-sold a bottle of whisky for profit in my life. That said, I am a “collector,” whatever that means- and I’m trying to “skate to where the puck will be” to use a Wayne Gretzky reference that I hope is not lost on everyone. On the day they shuttered Hanyu, I’m sure it was hard to imagine that within a few years’ time Ichiro would be selling every bottle he could produce at more than ¥20,000, with demand still left unsatisfied. But, well, here we find ourselves. So: Box or No Box?

            • Box or no box, just grab any you can lay your hands on. Went to three Binny’s and talked to two store managers. H12 are flying off shelf fast and one of them told me he wouldn’t expect any future shipments as it is discontinued. So the word has definitely got out. I have grabbed whatever were left there. Hopefully they will last me through good chunk of the “dry” season.

              • The Binny’s on Grand got 9 bottles of Hakushu 12 in this morning. I rang up and the salesguy advised me to “come in soon” if I wanted any. Bought 4, left 5 for you lucky ducks. No box on the bottles.

                Speaking of which, I am still flabbergasted they wasted the time and money redesigning the packaging for a product they were about to discontinue. Makes you wonder if the right hand knows what the left hand is doing!

                • Nice. Will try to hit the suburb Binny’s first to avoid crazy Chicago sales tax…

                  Good point on the box. All the ones in bowlingbrook and Montgomery were in boxes but not Naperville ones.

                • Nice score! I am so glad that I grabbed a case and half few weeks back so I don’t have to fight the crowd. I am good for the next few years!

                  • Nice! I think they are pretty good dram but the price is high. Well, it is getting higher from now on. I love the Hak 18 along with Yama 18 being my favs!!

      • So, is it now going to be Mars’ time to shine?

        We previously discussed their apparent issues with / lack of desire to produce anything new over 4 years old despite having had the time to do so by now. But that detail aside, other WWA award winners like Fujigotemba still don’t have the demand that the big two have in Japan (judging by Yahoo Auctions). And while Chichibu has the huge demand, they have even less availability than Suntory. Is there room for Mars to step up?

        • Sincerely hope so as I am a big fan of Mars.

          I think “lukewarm” demand for Fuji-Gotemba products could be attributed to lack of marketing on its whisky products by Kirin. Many folks here are largely unaware of its whisky products. Kirin is so big and whisky is just a minor side show (relatively speaking.) I personally do like its house style.

          On a separate note, Clinton, when will you guys plan to release Foundation 2? I missed the Foundation 1 release and hope to get hold of peated Foundation 2. Thank you.

          • I’m not sure if you’re asking me about Akkeshi, but if so I’m not who you think I am despite the initials. 😜

            I’m just a fan, as can be seen via the link in my name.

              • It should be in August the last I heard. I actually just opened the Foundations 1 yesterday, as I managed to get a package sent to Norway. However I believe the new postage rules now will remove this option…

        • Mars even with 2 distilleries have limited production runs each year(6 months though they are upping to about 9 months) and a limit to how many kilolitres they are happy to distill. The warehouse is small and you’d be surprised how few barrels are filled a day. I think they are smart enough to be a bit conservative and not let supply outstrip demand. Will remain a smallish player.

        • I agree that Kirin is totally dropping the ball considering they are physically one of the biggest, if not THE biggest distillery in the world. Their marketing both domestically within Japan and internationally is nearly non-existent.

          They make a very high quality every day cheap whisky priced around JPY1,500 that can be found everywhere in convenience stores, yet their blended vintage 18yrs are extremely expensive around JPY22,000 to JPY35,000 range. These are just imbalanced extremes in my opinion due to the lack of branding.

  58. Of all the places I looked in Japan for the last year or two with no success, I recently found out a shipment of Yamazaki 18 at $249 a bottle in the states..! Called my friends on that very same day and they got me total of two bottles. The entire shipment ran out within 3 hours that morning…. just crazy! Lucky me!!!

  59. Way out in the boonies (near Omuta) I found another Suntory 1981 Kioke Shikomi and a 1972 Sapporo Olympic Commemorative edition of Suntory Very Rare Old Blended Whisky.
    Other than those two items, it’s been pretty dry.
    Just came back to Fukuoka after visiting SE Asia, will be heading to Tenjin, tomorrow, to visit Bar Kitchen in the late afternoon. Maybe we’ll run into each other?

    P.S. On a side note, Brian, I’ve been having a lot of trouble posting on here. Half of my posts never show up. Any idea why?

    • I’m touring kyushu (my first time here), currently at nagasaki. But will be back at hakata/Tenjin on the 23rd!

  60. Hey folks, here’s an update from Fukuoka.
    Bon Yo in Maizuru had the Mars 27 for 63,000 yen +tax.

    Alliq in Nakasu had several Mars bottlings available including Yakushima aging, Kohagizakura, and Shinanotampopo for 8500 to 9600 yen. You can get Tax free there as well.

    Mars Saigo Don was in ample supply at Daimaru .

    Every place else didn’t have much of anything Japanese wise. But I’ll keep looking.

    • Yeah, they just started showing up like that a few months ago. It’s a handsome presentation: a nice eye-catching forest green with cream-colored Kanji. Still $79.99 pre-tax. Will drop by the Lakeview location this weekend to see what’s on hand there.

      • As a follow-up, the shelf at the Lakeview Binny’s was completely empty of Hakushu 12 (and, weirdly, of Toki). This is the first time in the several years going there that I can recall this being the case. Their website shows them as still having it in stock there (and, indeed, generally across all their stores) so maybe they just hadn’t re-stocked?

        Still deeply curious about Suntory’s plans for their portfolio, if anyone has heard anything substantial?

        • The word I got from the local is that Suntory will cease production of Hakushu 12 yr in June and replace it with Hakushu 10 yr. Hibiki 17 is next one to be axed (Sept) and to be replaced with either NAS (with 15 yr- 20 yr) or 15 yr statement. You can see the secondary price for Hakushu 12 is about 22k yen – 25k yen and Hibiki 17 is about 28k – 32k yen. If you can find one at MSRP, grab it and run away!! People in Asia are now aware of this info as well so you will see these two bottles disappearing very fast from the market!!

          • What sources do you consult for secondary market prices? I have looked at the Whisky Auctioneer (UK) site, as well as the occasional bottle that comes up at Acker, but other than that I don’t know of a liquid (no pun intended) secondary market.

            • Couple FB groups based in Asia and Yahoo JP auctions. Just today Hibiki 17 went for little over $300 and Hakushu 12 went for $170.

          • So the depressing part of the rumor has come to pass. Now I wonder if the other more positive rumor of at least a Hakushu 10YO and either NAS (with 15 yr- 20 yr) or 15 yr statement does the same.

      • If the Spirits Business report is accurate they’re saying at least to the end of 2019 so no discontinuance of Hak 12 any time soon.
        The other possibility if the rumor reported here is correct, was for Japan only and Suntory will continue to offer both 12YO’s to the international market.

        • Yet another paradox emerges: why disadvantage the local market whilst keeping supplies open for the fickle export markets? Is Beam Suntory betting that Japanese Whisky is more than a fashionable fad in the west?

    • I picked up few bottles at $64.99 last week and had them shipped (so average out to be $73 a bottle) to my place. The box is really Japanese!

  61. For those in Tokyo this coming weekend, Shinanoya will open a new store in Ikebukuro (close to the West Exit of ikebukuro station.) Grand opening will be on Saturday 4/28, which marks the beginning of GW.

      • At shinonaya ikebukuro store (grand opening in 40 min), it has 12 or so Yama 12 at around 8,400 yen, several mars Saigo Do bottles at 2,300 yen, Yoichi and Miyagikyo NAS, and IM White Label.

      • Got 1 Yama 12 at ¥8,380 pre-tax, Mars Saigo Don at ¥2,380 pre-tax, and a bottle of Boutique-Y Whisky company, an independent bottler – it is blended whisky and its contents are supposed to secret but contain Hanyu cask according to shinonaya people.

        All Yama 12 gone in 5 min. Will go back again tomorrow just in case they put new stock out.

        • Hmmm possibly…..I’ve also read Yamazakura or from Nikon or Suntory stock….Only the people that bottle it know and an honest retailer will admit they just don’t know.
          The only blended bottling’s(Scotland and Japan) that I know of that actively claim to include Hanyu are Ichiro’s own Uniting Nations and The Glover Bottling’s from Adelphi.

    • Went back to Shinonaya Ikebukuro yesterday and it still has plenty of Mars Saigo Don at ¥2,380 pre-tax, and quite a few of Yamazaki Distillery Reserve.

      Went through Big Camera in ikebukuro and Akihabara. Except for tons of Chita, nothing exciting to report.

      Went through Shinonaya Ginza two days ago with nothing exciting to report.

      Both Mitsukoshi Ginza and Nihonbashi have usual Mars Tsunagu and Mitsukoshi/Isetan Akashi bottles.

      Also went to a liquor store in Ueno (in an alley next to Takeya Discount Store). It has all Yoichi 500 ml and Yoichi 2000’s usually only available at distillery. Each is at ¥14,800 pre tax (almost at three times over at distillery price.) However it does have quite a few of Taketsuru NAS at ¥2,930 pretax. This was the first time I ran into in Tokyo so grabbed two.

      Will do my round again today.

  62. Arrived in Tokyo yesterday and stated hitting the usual shops around the Ginza. Pretty much everything was picked dry. Only thing of note was Yamaya carrying the 2018 Fuji Sanroku 18 Year Small Batch blend for 24,000 yen (Pass since I still own the single malt 18 year, which is superior). Went to another shinanoya in Meguro and found the same nothing.

    Looks like it may be a Cruel Summer in the city. So, I will try my luck in the outskirts of Kyushu next week.

    • My experience as well a couple of weeks ago. Did find a bottle of Yamazaki 12 at the Ginza Shinanoya; also sampled Nikka WFTB nearby and went on to find a bottle later on in a small liquor store near Roppongi. (It was even hard to find good NAS Japanese whiskey in Tokyo; a sign of the times.)

    • Just a little note. Went to Shinanoya in Setagaya Daita, which is their main HQ. They were pretty bare on the JP side, but I did pick up a Mars Saigo Don. First one I’ve seen. Everyplace else was useless or overpriced.

      • Let us know what you think of it. I pre-ordered 3 bottles and it is going to my buddy place and I won’t be able to get it until Dec….
        I am also having couple of my friends looking for Hibiki 17 at MSRP.. I guess it’s like finding unicorn nowadays. I also heard Hakushu is discontinuing their 12 yr… wonder if that is true…

        • Seems unlikely, for a few reasons. First, Suntory just rolled out a newly redesigned Hakushu 12 Years Old box (at least here in the U.S.), which would be a strange thing to do if you were planning on discontinuing the product imminently.

          Secondly, Suntory hasn’t even discontinued Yamazaki 12 Years Old, which seems to be in far shorter supply. Yes, bottles are a lot scarcer than they were a few years ago, and more expensive when they are marked up. However, new stock still flows through the global supply chain. As Hakushu 12 Years Old is still relatively plentiful (at least here in the U.S.), it’s not clear why they’d have to cut it out of the lineup.

          I wonder how they now assess the decision to cut Hibiki 12 Years Old in favor of NAS Hibiki Harmony (and to shortly thereafter introduce NAS Toki in the U.S. market), with the benefit of a few years of hindsight? If it was necessary to take the heat off Yamazaki and Hakushu for a few years, allowing them to continue to release 12 Year Old Single Malts, I’d say it was probably worth it (and this from a guy who adores Hibiki 12 Years Old).

          Just my two cents, trying to reason this out; happy to hear opinions from anyone who’s better informed.

          • Checked Shinanoya, Bic Camera, and Liquor Mountain this past weekend. All of them confirmed that Hakushu 12 has been discontinued in Japan despite no official statement from Suntory…

            Correct me if i’m wrong, but Hibiki 12 was discontinued in Japan far earlier than both Europe and US markets.

              • I went to the Binny’s Downtown location today. They had two Hakushu 12 on the shelf, in the redesigned box. Just in case anyone wondered, the bottle appears the same as before. I bought them both, as an insurance policy.

                At this same store, I noticed a bottle of Taketsuru 17 ($200) and bottle of Taketsuru 21 ($250) in their display case. This is the type of thing that materializes in the store from time-to-time, and never makes it onto their website. The price on the Taketsuru 17 seems a bit high based on recent auction results; 21 is more in line.

            • Oh no…! I really enjoy the 12 yr, both Yamazaki and Hakushu. Are they going to take out 18 yr as well!!??? What about Yamazaki 12?? This is crazy!

              • I contacted a good friend of mine in Japan who is one of the best bar tenders in Tokyo area and he confirmed that Hakushu 12 will be discontinued and 10 yr will come back as a replacement. Hibiki 17 will also be discontinued and replaced by Hibiki 15… No words on Hakushu 18 nor Yamazaki 12.

                • As long as a 10YO retains the Hakushu house style of light peating, clear mountain stream water and Japanese forest it will be fine. The NAS bottling for me just doesn’t cut it with the 12YO being noticeably superior.
                  With the Hibiki, 15 years old will be fine if it is readily available instead of being released in dribs and drabs and the price is reasonable.

                • Suntory will officially stop production of Hakushu 12 in June 2018! Not sure how it is going to affect international market.

            • Over the last 2-3 months multiple shops and bars in Japan have stated to me that Hakushu 12 is being discontinued. Prices in bars and on the secondary are going up accordingly. No official announcement, but everyone just “knows” it.

      • Same story at NRT. Will be back for GW and hopefully will see some new stock. Bought a couple of Mars Tsunaga at Mitsukoshi.

    • Went to Takashimaya near Tokyo Station today. They had a couple of bottles of the Akashi 3 year Sherry Ollorosso (didn’t know it was an 1100 bottle release), plus a distillery I never encountered before, Aoi Unibow, which releases a 12 year old blended called Rainbow. At first I thought it was fake Japanese whisky, like so many other unrecognizable brands in Japan ,but after a little research, it seems to be legit. Mostly a Sake and Shochu brewer that produces Whisky once in a while, like Wakatsuru Sun Shine. For 3,800 yen I was willing to take a risk. I left one on the shelf if anyone else is interested.

  63. Keio Shinjuku has a dozen or so Yamazaki 12 at ¥8500 before tax. Picked one up as there was nothing at any other Shinjuku stores.

    Seibu Ikebukuro has a couple of the 21 yr Yamazakura for ¥20+something. Haven’t heard any good things about this one so just left it for the Chinese.

  64. Bought a Yamazaki 12 here in the US today for $85. Prices have gotten so expensive in Japan on Yamazaki (9,000 yen or more) it’s cheaper to buy it here than in Japan. Sure I may find a mom and pop shop somewhere in Japan that still sells it for 6,900 yen, but is it worth the extra time and effort to go searching for it?

    • Best deal for me is 750 ml Hakushu 12 at $79.99 from Binny’s here. It doesn’t carry any Yamazaki but does manage to carry a truck load of recently-emerged sake distillery turned Japanese whiskies.

      • K&L is selling Hakushu for $69, in California, with the new fancy box.

        Cheaper than Japan these days.

        On a side note, is anybody getting notifications about new posts in this thread anymore? I’m not.

      • Binny’s will occasionally get half a dozen or a dozen bottles of Yamazaki 12 Years Old in the store. They don’t post them on the website, and the bottles are typically gone before too long. If you’re in the Chicago area, stop by one of their many locations and try your luck. If I recall correctly, they’re usually priced at around $90. Higher than a few years back, but a bargain compared with the nearly $130 you’re increasingly seeing both in Japan and in specialty liquor stores in the US. Between the two 12 Year Old expressions, I much prefer Hakushu and am grateful it’s still consistently available (for now).

  65. Just went through DFS at T2 (JAL side). Nothing much except for the usual 50,000 yen Suntory bottles, Hibiki Master Select at 10k yen and Fuji Sanroku 18 blended Oloroso Finish at 32k yen. One store still has H25 at usual 250k yen.

    • This leaf limited edition is the same one that won this year 2018 world best Blended whisky. 500 bottles in total with blends from 27 old years Hanyu, 35 years old Kawasaki and 5 years old Chichibu.

        • Just my opinion but why would you blend in 5 year old Chichibu with long aged whisky from two closed distilleries(well apart from lifting the number of bottles you can sell).
          Absolutely devalues the whole IMO and I would much rather pick up a bottle of one of the Kiyosato Field Ballet Anniversary releases that are only blended from Kawasaki and Hanyu and I can pick up for the same price or less. Paid about 80,000 Yen for our bottle of the 26th Anniversary Edition.
          Also find it no co-incidence that the label has no age statement. As per Japanese Whisky Distilleries adherence to Scottish Whisky standards, Akuto-san would need to display the age of the youngest whisky in the blend not the oldest.

          • Agreed, Brian.

            Aside the above Ichiro’s Malt at Mitsukoshi Ginza, pretty dry at Shinanoya Ginza and Liquor Mountain 777. Didn’t have too much today as I am just stopping over here on my way Sydney. Will be stopping over again on my way back.

          • another thought on using Chichibu in the mix, could it be that without Chichibu, it might not technically be Ichiro’s Malt product for the competition?

            • Could well be but personally I’m not so sure.
              Firstly, almost all Hanyu Single Malt, Kawasaki Single Grain or a blend of both are labelled as Ichiro’s Malt, Ichiro’s Choice or Ichiro’s Malt and Grain. In the case of Hanyu these were labelled as Ichiro’s Malt before any Chichibu were distilled.
              Secondly, it was entered in the Japanese Blended Whisky Category so the bottling could have been Hanyu and Kawasaki without the Chichibu. Without the Chichibu it would still be a ‘halo’ model as they say in the car biz for Chichibu because it would still be labelled Ichiro’s Malt and grain.

          • This is the real Malt and Grain Limited Edition Japanese Blended Whisky that won the WWA 2018. Dekanta made a wrong representation at their website peddling off the Malt and Grain Limited Edition World Blended Whisky bottles at a steep mark up. Beware

            • The one on its website would appear to be the real one, at least from color and contents of the label as well as packaging box perspectives. Irrespective whether it is real one or not, the issues with Dekanta are (1) its ridiculous price, and (2) often times it does not have bottles in its inventory what it claims on its site. I think once it receives the order, it will then bid the bottle on Japanese online auction sites and then turn it around with a hefty margin to the end customer.

              From time to time, its price with its promotion may be consistent with those of other online sites for some bottles, however, they may not necessarily have the bottles in their possession.

              I primarily use its website as a library reference point. From a business perspective, if they truly have so many bottles sitting in its inventory for so long, their daily/monthly cashflow would likely not be sustainable.

              • Sounds about right.
                If you buy from them you are either seriously wealthy and just don’t care about price, or you have zero other options available to you.

  66. For those in Tokyo, mitsukoshi ginza is selling Ichiro’s Malt leaf limited edition currently, packed in a very fancy box at pretax of 128,000 yen a bottle.

  67. Has anyone tasted the Akashi Sommelier Series Pinot Noir? It’s on the Benny’s website for $199. Not sure if that’s worth it or not.

    • Noted that yesterday too. Have not tried but will pass on it for that price. Granted it is 0.75 ml vs typical 0.5 ml, I could get three bottles of Akashi 0.5 ml in Japan (in store or online) with that price.

    • I can’t find a label photo clearer than the one on the Binny’s website. Any idea whether there is an age statement on this? Agreed that the price looks punchy, given this is roughly the same price as the 10 Year Old Sherry Cask that I recently found in Shinjuku.

    • Did a bit of sleuthing on this one. Per the label, this is a single malt finished in Lompoc, CA pinot noir barrels sourced by Master Sommelier Kenneth Fredrickson; “1st edition, 630 bottles,” bottled at 50%. No age statement. Some light Googling revealed that Ken Fredrickson is part owner of both Tokiwa Imports (Eigashima’s importer in the US) and the Brewer-Clifton Winery in (wait for it…) Lompoc, CA. So there you have it. I’d take a flier on this at half the advertised price.

  68. Interesting thing about Mars 27 years lottery sale is that someone posed it on Japanese auction site on 4/1 with a picture of the bottle next to Ichiro’s leaf bottle prior to delivery day of 4/3, which means someone taking possession of the bottle before the Mars official lottery result release day on 4/1.

    • I’m guessing the bars and hotels got it early. Some more unscrupulous owners might have decided it was worth selling on the after-market than selling it at their establishment.

  69. I will be visiting Japan in May (16th to 30th), Going to visit a few cities in Japan (Osaka, Kobe, Fukuoka, HIroshima, Nagoya, Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto), and plan to look for good whisky in those cities (depato, Donki, liquor store). The comments have be very informative and I am very excited about the hunt (probably will be disappointed). I will post the result here (if any).
    I also booked a early morning tour of Yamazaki distillery (29th) and hoping (but not expecting) some good things there.
    I have a question about the annual Yamazaki limited edition, does anyone know when (approximately) it will be released this year. Do I have a chance to catch one when I will be in Japan.

    • Horigami-san at Zoetrope commented to me that releases occurred around the end of the Japanese year (February/March) in anticipation of traditional gift-giving, and then again in September. For what it’s worth, there was a bit of Yamazaki LE 2017 around when I was there in November, but all gone by February. As you will have read here, the key is repeatedly visiting the likely retailers in a variety of neighborhoods. Best of luck- keep us posted on your progress!

      (P.S. if you’re really a Data Geek, you’ll be headed to Akihabara, where I have had some luck at the Bic Camera, invluding the Yamazaki LE 2017 for MSRP last year).

      • Of course I will (and some other Bic Camera as well). Akihabara and the Unicorn Gundam at Odaiba were the two places on top of my list.

      • Annual LEs are released twice a year. May release is for summer gift giving and the fall release is obviously for year-end holiday. My experiences have been that the quantities of the fall release appeared to be more than that of May release. At least, that’s how I got mine.

        • Bet they’ll release some sort of limited edition this year and I don’t mean along the lines Essence of Suntory bottling’s which were not supposed to get into private hands but a Mizunara, Sherry or Peated cask limited.
          I do like the LE’s and prefer them to the standard 12YO at around the same price on release.

          • I agree with you Brian on LEs are better than 12 YO. Being a Yamazaki fan, I have a full set (2014-2017) and couple opened bottles. I love how they make the bottle different from each release. It makes it a great collector’s item. If they do release some sort of limited release this year, I bet the prices will be jacked up to the point I won’t even bother to hunt down a bottle. Since LE 2017 was a huge hit. If the rumor is true, I will be ordering couple bottles of LE 2017 with a little price premium… I was lucky enough to score two bottles at MSRP back in Feb!

  70. Looks like Mars is coming out with a new blended whisky from their Tsunuki distillery, Saigo Don. Doesn’t seem like it’s going to be anything high-end (at 2,500 yen), or in limited supply. But I’ll be in Japan on April 20th to hopefully at least try it out. https://www.nomunication.jp/2018/03/28/mars-whisky-saigo-don-blended-whisky-on-april-14/

    Anybody else going to be in Tokyo, April 20th to the 25th, let me know. Maybe we can meet up for a dram?

  71. Just left Tokyo: Shibuya was cleaned out (Shinanoya, yamaya, Bic camera). The Bic camera in chiyoda had some mini bottles of Yamazaki 12 that I grabbed for the trip (none left now).

    I’m in Kyoto now:
    – Kyoto station bic camera and isetan had nothing
    – Went to 3 liquor mountains, all pretty lean. One of them had Yamazaki 18 but wanted just under 600K for it(!!!). 1-2 bottles of nikka 12 door 4500 yen at each.
    – Liquor burn gion: had everything (Yamazaki, hibiki , hakashu etc) but all at 2-4x markup (wanted 32000 yen for hibiki 17). Pass on those prices.
    – two other small gion stores with nothing at all. Owner of one just told me no good whiskey the second I walked in.

    Only here for another two days, but I’ll keep looking.

  72. In Tokyo right now, Shibuya was cleaned out (Shinanoya, yamaya, Bic camera). The Bic camera in chiyoda had some mini bottles of Yamazaki 12 that I grabbed for the trip. Heading to Kyoto tomorrow, will try my luck there.

    • The ANA Duty Free Shop at Narita Airport Terminal 1 gets some occasionally for ¥30,000. They were all out the last time I was through there, but it couldn’t hurt to check. You can see photos of the bottle I was able to snag back in March 2017 (5 Years Old, 59.3% Single Cask #2650, American White Oak Oloroso) here: https://tinyurl.com/ChichibuSingleCask

  73. Not back in Japan until next year now but for Nikka fans the Yoichi and Miyagikyo Rum Finishes are now available via Maison du Whisky, Master of Malt and Whisky Exchange. £360 for the set, or you can buy them individually via MDLW for €185.

    Oh, and the 1986 Mars 30Yr for £1750!

  74. Hi all,

    I’ve been reading up on your tips for a few months for a trip to Japan that my partner and I are currently on. Thanks for the up to date info, I also found Shinjuku, Ginza and most of Tokyo to be quite fruitless. The only place I came across was a small store in Asakusa that had stock of most things at less than the normal inflated prices, e.g. Hibiki 17 for ¥16,800ex. Donki Asakusa had a fair amount of stock of Yamazaki LE2017 and some Hakushu/Yamazaki 12’s but was above what normal retail in Australia comes to.

    From Tokyo to Hakone we found quite a large variety of the 50ml samplers of Hibiki 17, Yama and Hakushu 12 for around the ¥800-1200 mark.

    Kyoto delivered some interesting things in Gion (Kashitoku Liquor Store) with 50ml minis of Suntory Royal (a favourite of a family member, so great as gifts) for ¥400, at the same store there were 8x 180ml baby bottles of Hibiki 17 for ¥3,390 each – be aware this place was cash only.

    We had a late afternoon tour (14:50) at the Yamazaki distillery that did not deliver the goods – I was quite looking forward to getting the distillery release but for the late afternoon sessions they are already sold out. If they are sold out make sure to ask your tour guide who will direct you to come back the next morning if you have time. I’m not sure if it’s possible to score anything aged there, might be if you’re very polite to your guide and run into them the next morning. We made it back and picked up 2x of the distillery bottling for ¥1450 the following morning.

    The best luck I’ve seemed to have so far has been in Osaka, randomly found an old release bottle of Hibiki 12 for ¥19,800 which thought would be worth the gamble for something discontinued and rare. Also, in Kuromon Ichiba Market (shop named Kawasaki-ya) I was able to pick up a bottle of Hibiki 21 for ¥27,000inc., the shelf had sold out but after stumbling my way through with some Japanese the shop owner asked me to wait a moment while she checked her stock, she mentioned it was her last bottle but if you’re in that area it might be worth your time, especially compared to Liquor Express like prices elsewhere. I was that excited to find it after such a barren trip that I didn’t even think to ask if they did tax free. Be aware that, again, this place was cash only.

    Again, in Osaka, Donki Namba and Dotonbori have both had large volumes of Hibiki 17 (¥19,800), Yama/Hakushu 12 (¥15,800) also a bottle of Yama 18 (¥50,000). If that’s a price you’re willing to pay I’d go to Dotonbori as it seemed quieter and had much more stock.

    Hankyu near Shin-Osaka had a lot of the 50ml minis for sub ¥800 when visited a day ago. Still had price tags on the shelf for Hibiki 17, 21 and Yama/Hakushu 12 at the rrp.

    I’ll make sure to update again in a week or so when back home with some more details of Osaka and Hiroshima.

    In the end after some dispair that I wouldn’t be able to get what I was looking for we had some luck and won’t be going home empty handed. Pretty chuffed with the Hibiki 12, no idea what the going rate is for it these days though I guess you’re lucky if you can even come across it.

    Cheers,
    Grant

    • I’m also interested in “market” prices for the Hibiki 12, as it’s officially discontinued (and I’ve got 15 bottles in the cupboard). The Whisky Auctioneer site in the UK has seen a fair number of bottles change hands this year, at around US$185 for the 700 mls (5x) and the volume-adjusted equivalent of about US$185 as well for the 500 mls (4x). I’ve excluded the highest-priced transaction (US$240/US$220 equivalent) in both cases, lest I be accused of artificially inflating the price.

      If you want a good chuckle, I should let you know that a few of the flowery Duty Free Limited Edition bottles have traded hands for between US$330-US$650 in the last several months. And I felt foolish paying US$100 for them in 2016!

      • In that case when back calculating to AUD I’ve paid right on current ‘market’ value for this bottle, I’m happier to have a bottle of my own than unhappy for not getting it as a bargain!

        I know it’s not one of the final release bottles as it is in a burgundy coloured front opening box (as opposed to shiny purple) with a gold bottle holder and has the old style label, checked the bottle and is laser engraved like normal. Might have been a duty free offering or just early production?

        Cheers,
        Grant

  75. Hi Brian, hope your Safari is going well.
    Remember I mentioned a little while back about a 27 year Mars my contact offered to sell me? Well it looks like people can now enter a lottery to buy one of about 1200 bottles they’re selling, here. https://www.hombo.co.jp/item/whisky_brandy/mars_singlemalt_komagadake_27/
    A blend of four different casks:
    American White Oak #382 from 1986
    Sherry #327 from 1986
    Sherry #570 from 1988
    Sherry #1068 from 1990

    • Hey mate,
      Just arrived in the Chobe area of northern Botswana. First safari is in 20 mins. I’m not sure if I ever mentioned it but along with the whisky and general international travel my passion is wildlife photography.
      Anyway the Mars looks interesting though I myself from previous experience am a little weary of mixed single casks in one bottling. I forgot, did you say you had a price?

      • It’s a bit steep, about 72,000 yen, including tax.

        But I’m sure Mars thinks its reasonable since most of their releases for 8,000 yen are just 3 to 4 year releases.

  76. The landscape at Narita Airport is a bit different from when I was here in November. The Yamazaki and Hakushu 18 Year Old Special Editions are back in stock, for ¥50,000. I assume precisely zero people reading this are interested in those whiskies, at least at that price. Hibiki Master’s Select is now available at ¥10,000, and is limit one per customer in places.

    ANA has the Mars Komagatake Shinanotanpopo for ¥7,930/bottle. I was tempted at this price, but I tried it at Zoetrope the other evening and didn’t really care for it. Still, compared with the $150ish that it fetches online, it seems like a buy if that’s your bag.

    I saw a few bottles of “The Nikka” 12 Years Old for ¥5,400, which is a bit cheaper than the Bic Camera/Don Quijote price and is Duty Free (though you can also shop tax free, at least at Don Quijote). They also had the Chivas Regal Mizunara Cask for ¥4,400, which compares unfavorably with the ¥3,400 I paid in Roponggi.

    There are still bottles of the Fuji-Sanroku 18 years Old Limited Edition Oloroso Cask Finish, but they’re no longer labeled “2016” across the neck, as was the cae prior. Wonder what the deal with that is? Still ¥32,000, still abundant on Duty Free store shelves.

    For what it’s worth, I asked a few of the salespeople about the Travel Exclusive Chichibu (in a combination of English, Japanese, and flamboyant hand gestures, it came out sounding like “EE-chee-ROH-zu mah-RU-toh ooh-ISS-kihi”). Once they figured out what the flip I was on about, they kindly indicated that they were sold out. One made a show of searching the shelves for me, meaning that they either had some recently, or she was just very polite.

    Finally, if you’re shopping for a friend who has bad taste, you can find The Chita for ¥3,900 and the NAS Hakushu for ¥4,470 at the “Fuji Doll” shop near gate 51.

    My tally for the week is 2x The Nikka 12, 1x From The Barrel, and 1x Chivas Regal Mizunara. If I had to do it all again, I might have picked up the Akashi 10 Year Old Sherry Butt in Shijuku for ¥14,400. Regretz, I haz tehm.

    Thanks for the feedback, guys (and gals, if there are any reading this, which of course there aren’t). The thrill of the hunt persists. Keep up the good work, everybody!

    • Thanks mate, awesome summary! A bit strange that on the exchange rate for the Aussie dollar, I can pick up the Hibiki Masters Select in Australia Duty Free cheaper. In fact from the sounds of it, Duty Free is not being being applied at Narita but ignored all together and a premium added for our friends in China.
      My bottle of Nikka 12 Blend has improved and I’m enjoying it a lot more but from experience(and I picked up yet another bottle of Nikka WFTB in Malaysia at Christmas), I personally would go for 2 x Nikka WFTB and 1 x Nikka 12. In fact(again personal taste) I rate Nikka WFTB better(remembering it is a batch whisky and there can be some variation) better than the 12 at half the price. I’d almost go as far as to say that pound for pound dollar for dollar this is the best Japanese Whisky available. I’d certainly be more than happy to be stuck on a desert island with a couple of cases of Nikka WFTB!!
      *Quick note for those not familiar with Nikka Whisky From the Barrel. It is a blend of Nikka Malt and Grain whisky that is then placed back in oak barrels for a period after blending before being bottled.

      • You are far more expert than me, so I will defer to your position on WFTB vs TN12. I’ll crack the WFTB as soon as I get home, so as to have an educated opinion on the matter. Until then, I am mentally comparing The Nikka 12 (at around $50) to NAS Taketsuru (our locally available equivalent at $75-80) and am positively predisposed towards the former, from both an absolute and price-relative perspective. I wonder about the difference in blend?

        I passed on the Hibiki Master’s Select because my first bottle of Japanese Harmony was such a catastrophe. Fool me once…

        • For myself and some others I know, the Masters Select is markedly superior the regular Harmony and I only recommended it to a friend a few days ago.
          In regards to the NAS and the 12 year old one is a Pure Malt(Taketsruru NAS – Miyagikyo and Yoichi Malt whisky) and one a Blend(Yoichi and Miyagikyo malt and Nikka grain produced at the same site as Miyagikyo).
          I too would opt for the 12YO blend as a personal preference!

          • Brian,

            Tried the NWFTB. Excellent, particularly with regards to the price.

            Everybody else out there, the Chivas Regal Mizunara is a low-quality ripoff. Pop quiz: what kind of flavors would you expect from something called “Mizunara Special Edition?” Take your time… nary a hint of jasmine, incense, or five spice to be found. Not worth the money or time.

            Happy hunting!

  77. I hit up the Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi tonight. They had the Isetan Exclusive Akashi Chardonnay Cask #61091 for ¥14,040 and the Cognac Cask #1122, also ¥14,040 (both 500 ml, mind you). They also had the Mars Komagatake Bourbon Barrel #1218 for ¥18,360 (at least this was 700 ml). Finally, there were a few bottles of the Tsunagu blend for ¥7,560. I passed on all of the above. Off to Narita tomorrow; I’ll make my customary survey of the Duty Free and report back.

  78. I spent some time trying to arrange a list of bars and liquor stores to visit on my upcoming trip to Japan. Since I will be staying outside of Tokyo, I organized the list by their proximity to the major stations I will be near at one time or another without having to go out of my way to hunt out bargains and hard to find bottles. So far, the list looks like this:

    Ikebukuro
    Tokyu Hands
    Whisky Plus

    Tokyo
    Liquors Hasegawa

    Shibuya
    YaMaYa World Liquor
    Nikka Blenders Bar

    Shinjuku
    BIC Camera
    Zoetrope Bar

    Ginza
    Shinanoya
    Ginza 777 Liquor Mountain
    Liquor Express
    Hibya Bar Whisky-S

    Seems that the best prices are to be found at the chain stores like Bic Camera and Don Ki, so I will check them out when I am close by. I will definitely go to Liquors Hasegawa to try samples. BTW, can I sample small drams in any other locations? Also, are there other Liquor Off locations in Tokyo? I only know of the one at Koenji and can’t do a search on their website because I don’t read Japanese.

    Any corrections and suggestions will be appreciated.

    • A few additions: there’s a Shinanoya in Shinkjuku where I have had some luck in the past, though not this week. There’s also a Liquor Mountain on that same street. Finally, try dropping into the liquor store on the 3rd floor of 1-Chome-4 Nishishinjuku, if you’re looking for the Akashi single cask range (mentioned above).

      The Royal Bar at the Palace Hotel (near Tokyo station) is pricey, but they have some really interesting bottles (including some own single casks from Yamazaki and Hakushu). Apart from the whisky selection it’s just a beautiful bar room; very civilized, with wonderful Japanese service.

      • Thanks. Two naive questions, however, for you or Dramtastic: first, what is the difference between Liquor Mountain and Yamaya Liquor, and second, what Akashi would be a good place to start for a relative amateur like me (hopefully under 10,000 yen)? Sounds like the Royal Bar would be another place for me to wait for my wife while she goes shopping!

        • To answer your first question: I really enjoyed the Akashi Single Malt NAS (green label). Not so much the NAS Blend (white label). As an intro to the distillery style, it may be a safer bet than plumping for one of the pricier single casks (which can, as a general principle, be hit-and-miss from even very good distilleries). You can read my tasting notes here: http://www.tinyurl.com/AkashiNAS

          As a follow-up to my prior comment, I stopped into the Royal Bar for a desert dram last night. Picked the Palace Hotel Owner’s Cask of Hakushu (distilled 2000, bottled 2012). Holy smokes, was it delicious. Not cheap at ¥3,700 on the menu (¥4,400 after service and tax), but I’ve spent $40 for a lot less fun elsewhere. Label photo and my notes here: http://www.tinyurl.com/HakushuPalace

  79. I’m afraid to report that Shinjuku was comparably depleted, relative to Roppongi. Liquor Mountain had Yamazaki 12 Years Old for the aspirational price of ¥15,800/bottle. Don Quijote and Shinanoya had little of interest beyond the Nikka From the Barrel and The Nikka 12 Years Old, both at prices consonant with those found elsewhere. They also had half bottles of the Chivas Regal Mizunara- wish I had known about these before I plumped for a 700 ml, but whatever, #YOLO.

    Found a small liquor shop on the 3rd floor of 1 Chome-4 Nishishinjuku that had Akashi 3 Years Oloroso Cask (¥5,600), 5 Years Bourbon Barrel (¥6,800), 5 Years Oloroso Cask #1484 (¥8,000) and 10 Years Old Sherry Butt #5164 (¥14,500). I have most of these in the collection already, but a source of material for those that missed out prior.

    Made my first visit to Bar Zoetrope and was treated kindly by the proprietor. Other than that, nothing positive to report. At this rate, I am going to be relying on my luck at the Narita Duty Free for some of the Chichibu Single Cask Travel Exclusive.

  80. Slim pickings in Roppongi tonight. Don Quijote had the Yamazaki 18 Mizunara for ¥368,000. Other than that, nothing else of interest besides The Nikka 12 (¥5,580) and Nikka From The Barrel (¥2,380), same prices as Bic Camera.

    The little local shop around the corner had a sign in the window to the effect of “WE HAVE NO YAMAZAKI/HIBIKI.” Undeterred, I popped in and found the Chivas Regal Mizunara Special Edition for ¥3,434. Curiosity got the best of me, and I picked up a bottle. Interesting that this specifies “12 Years Old,” whereas pictures of bottles from the prior release did not. I guess they could spash some 12 year old Scotch whisky around in a Mizunara cask and fulfill the letter (if not the spirit) of the designation. Would be keen to hear feedback from anyone who has tried this?

    Will be making the rounds in Shinjuku tomorrow. Stay tuned.

  81. Yamaya Dogenzaka:

    6 Hi17 samplers avail ¥840
    1 Ichiro MWR ¥5780
    3 Fuji-Sanroku 18 small batch (brown label) ¥24800

    Likely only for the newbie collectors, but that’s what I am and want to help others… enjoy!

  82. Just finished this thread and copied down numerous recommendations for my upcoming trip to Tokyo (we go there about twice a year). I had started a list of places to visit that began with Liquor Hasegawa, but I am especially appreciative of the advice about stores in Ginza–I can visit them while my wife is at Uniqlo! Thanks to all.

  83. Hello friends,

    Back in Tokyo. Hoofed it around Ginza tonight. Some interesting finds, though I didn’t purchase anything just yet.

    Bic Camera Shinanoya had Nikka From The Barrel for ¥2,380. Notable that I didn’t see a single bottle of this when I was here back in November, and now it seems ubiquitous. Been meaning to pick one up, on Brian’s strong recommendation. They also had The Nikka 12 Years Old for ¥5,580. I’ve been really enjoying this at home and, if I fail to find anything more compelling, will likely grab a couple bottles. Other than that, not much of interest- they had the Kurayoshi range, which is available everywhere at laughable prices. I’ll be omitting mention of it henceforth. The only other bottles that caught my eye were these 500 ml bottles of 59% New Make from the Nagahama distillery. Available in “Lightly Peated” and “Heavily Peated” variations, they are selling for ¥4,580, incredibly.

    Liquor Mountain had the White Oak Akashi First Fill Bourbon Barrel 5 Years Old for ¥6,800. I passed, as I got a bottle of this last year. Behind the counter, they had Taketsuru 17 Years Old for ¥19,800; Taketsuru 21 Years Old for ¥24,800; Miyagikyo Moscatel Wood Finish for ¥35,000; and Yamazaki 12 Years Old for ¥13,800. None of the above were compellingly priced, to me.

    Then I stumbled upon Liquor Express (on the same street as Shinanoya Ginza) and was completely blown away. The shelf facing the street had 3 Ichiro’s Malts: Double Distilleries (¥11,800), Mizunara Wood Reserve (¥12,800) and Wine Wood Reserve (¥19,800). They also had Miyagikyo Original in 500 ml for ¥4,380 and this other little bottle of Miyagikyo for ¥3,980 which looked like one of those factory souvenirs. I had only ever seen Miyagikyo Original at Hasegawa, years ago.

    Venturing further into the shop, my jaw dropped. On the shelf were laminated placeholders for a huge range of the Suntory and Nikka malts and blends, with sky-high prices to match. They were also selling the Suntory “Limited Edition” duty free bottlings, again at inflated prices. A sampling of what was on offer: Hibiki 17 Limited Edition Bottle (¥59,800); Hibiki 21 Limited Edition Bottle (¥98,000); Hibiki 30 (¥298,000); Yamazaki 18 Limited Edition (¥94,800); Yamazaki 18 Mizunara (¥358,000); Yamazaki 25 (¥398,000); Hakushu 18 (¥89,800); Hakushu 25 (¥298,000); Hakushu 25 Limited Edition Bottle (¥398,000); Chita Distillery Single Grain (¥12,800); Taketsuru 21 (¥27,500); Taketsuru 21 Madeira Wood Finish (¥198,000); Taketsuru 25 (¥98,000); Taketsuru 35 (¥398,000); Miyagikyo Fruity & Rich, Malty & Soft, and Sherry & Sweet (each ¥15,800); Miyagikyo Sherry Cask (¥79,800); Miyagikyo 10 (¥29,800); Miyagikyo 12 (¥39,800); Yoichi 10 (¥29,800); Yoichi 12 (¥39,800); Yoichi 15 (¥49,800); Yoichi 20 (¥158,000). There were also three limited edition Chichibu bottlings, all north of ¥50,000. I guess the moral of the story is that everything you could want is out there, at a price.

    Shinanoya, down the block, was pretty sad. Nothing of note on the shelves. More bottles of From The Barrel and The Nikka 12, same price as Bic Camera.

    I dropped by Liquors Hasegawa but, as with prior visits, they had very little. Some bottles of Yamazaki 12 for ¥13,800. The Nikka 12 and Nikka From The Barrel, both at prices higher than Bic Camera.

    Anyway, more to come as I traipse around this week, but I’m still in awe of the selection and prices at Liquor Express. Anyone know what the deal with this place is?

    • Unreal… I was in Ginza at Liquor express, Shinanoya, and Hasegawa tonight around 1700-1730 too! Missed opportunity, LOL.

      Anyway, I’ve figured out that Liquor Express is a reseller for the most part, BUT they do have a lot of options no one else has. They sell Nikka FTB for ~3800, when yamaya will sell for 2180. (Liq. Exp. had Nikka Pure Malt Black for 3900, Hasegawa had it for 2200 but limit one per customer). So you’re gonna pay more, but they have options.

      I wouldn’t buy there unless you’ve tried elsewhere; but it’s still an option, probably like the “Liquor Off” place mentioned previously.

    • As far as I can tell, Liquor Express’ main business seems to be handling orders from the local night time establishments (hostess clubs & similar), where I assume the clients are used to paying marked up prices. They are located in or near Ginza, Shinjuku (Kabukicho), Roppongi, etc. and their opening hours are in the 4pm – 2am range. Liquor Mountain has a similar setup, with the exception of the recently opened shop in Ginza 777, which opens earlier in the day and seems more oriented towards tourists.

  84. Hi all

    Left the ski slopes last week where we were picking up the Nikka Pure Red and Black for 2,500 Yen and Miyagikyo Single Malt for 3,900. Now in Kyoto and even at Yamazaki distillery it’s impossible to get much decent stuff.

    Came across Nikka from the Barrel 2,500 but only saw it in one store and had 2 left.

    Managed to find a real small store up a back street and got the little Hibiki 17 180ml at 3,400 which isn’t too bad when compared to the full bottle price. Also Yamazaki 12 at around 9,000 (only 1 and didn’t have it yesterday).

    While in the store saw an old flask shap box, pretty dusty, Tory’s Blended Whisky. A 180ml bottle but reckon it’s pretty old and only 270 Yen. It’s such a cool little package and perfectly sealed. I don’t want to open. I reckon the whisky will not be so good!!

    Off to Tokyo tomorrow will see what that brings.

    Cheers

    Steve

  85. A bit late in posting, as of Early February, Basement level 2 of Daimaru Umeda connected to Osaka Station (not the Shin-Osaka station) had a large shipment (looked like 3 or more cases of 6 bottles each) of Yama 12 for 9,000 Yen and Hibiki 17 for 11,000 Yen. They also had some Ichiro with the gold leaf, but didnt see the price. The liquor section was way in the back corner.

    Shipment looked fresh as it was still on a moving cart. They grabbed the bottles straight out of the box.

    Looks like we will be seeing a steady stream of reasonably priced ($100 USD for a bottle of Hibiki 17 is awesome) Suntory whiskey!

    • Thanks for the tip.

      I discovered that ordering on Rakuten didn’t work with Google Chrome, but I had no issue with Firefox. Grabbed 1. Only one per person.
      Also, seems they’ll ship overseas if you’re willing to pay for it.

      Enjoy!

      • Ok so I get the message seller does not ship to Australia. Last time I shopped with Rakuten was about 5 years ago and the retailer did ship to Australia. As Rakuten has a forwarding service for international purchases I assume there is a way to have the item shipped to their warehouse in Japan before forwarding. Can’t seen to work it out though?

    • After a lot of mucking around trying to register with a forwarding service now I’m getting the error
      We’re sorry! The product information for “With Mars molar torr papillon single casque Aporia hippia 60 degrees 700 ml vanity case [Honbo brewing Mars whiskey Mars Shinshu distillation place]” in your Shopping Cart has changed.
      ???cartInfo.genericMessages.R0410??? not found

      Not sure if this means they’ve sold out or if there is another issue. This is using Firefox as per Metas advice

      • I’m not sure the cause of these browser issues, but I didn’t have any issues reserving using Safari on my phone.

        Don’t you have some kind of in-country retailer hookup that grabs all the releases for you? I’m sure this will be appearing on shelves in limited numbers like the previous releases.

        • Have a couple of options(may try an older third one) but won’t ship anything internationally bottling’s 60%abv and over as per EMS Post rules. Will hold for me but as now I won’t be back in Japan till November now didn’t want to wait that long. Have a friend who will be in Japan in April so might ask if he will forward on for me. Really not sure what is happening with the Rakuten site.

        • One more thing I find interesting as that it was bottled in November 2017. Tells me that smaller concerns(whisky output wise) like Mars can now drip feed product because of the Japanese Whisky craze! Hell, I just did a review of the Double Cellars that was bottled in 2018……

          • Sorry to hear you’re having so much trouble. I had it sent to my connection in Japan, will pick it up in April.
            Sounds ominous that Mars is starting to drip-feed their products.

            Dramtastic, on a side note, I’ve been offered purchase a Mars 27 year bottle Distilled in 1985, at an ABV of 46% for about 68,000 yen. Couldn’t find a listing for this bottle online. Not sure if its sherry or bourbon cask. You think it’s worth it?

            • All good Meta. I can get a bottle one way or another if I want, just thought I’d try Mars Rakuten store.
              Do you have a photo of that Mars? I too am having troubles finding a Mars that fits that description.

              • I’m going to assume the Mars Papillon 2nd edition sold out because I can choose a different item from Mars no problem!

          • I also found the November bottling a bit strange, but I don’t know the normal time between bottling and release. Surely they have an overall release schedule they’d like to stick to, though.

            Btw, there was also this other Mars bottling from Liquor Mountain that I unfortunately missed the preorder for.
            https://likaman.net/item/512798

            • Releasing a 2017 bottling in 2018 is one thing, it’s when they release a 2018 bottling before a 2017. Release schedule then is one thing, there is some strategy at play here that I don’t understand but I’m sure is working to Mars advantage.
              That bottle form Liquor Mountain looks cool. I’ve not seen before.
              One thing I am curious about is all these young released from Mars. I get making hay while the sun shines but how much whisky are they storing to be able to offer older age statements?
              The Mars Revival was distilled in 2011 so where are the 7YO whisky from Mars that they warehoused from that time? Is it really just distill and release as soon as it can be legally called whisky because the market it mad for all things Japanese Whisky?

              • I agree. On the flipnote, they’ve already released their Hoken brandy aged 16 years and yet stocks are still available at some shops, even Liquor Off. I realized brandy and whisky are as different as lemons and oranges, but I’m curious as how it compares the aged brandy to the younger whiskies?

          • Dramtastic, it’s definitely sold out now, but when you first reported problems it was still showing as available. Maybe there’s some difference between a regular order and a pre-order. I haven’t bought from Mars’ Rakuten shop before but the order flow did seem a bit different from other Rakuten stores, and there was about an hour delay between when I submitted the order and when I got the initial confirmation mail from Rakuten.

            Your comments regarding concern about Mars’ lack of releases older than 4 years are spot on, btw. I haven’t tried the 2011 Revival and I saw that you gave it a pretty good review at the time, but I’ve heard other comments to the effect that it and other early releases were “promising” but not actually that great. Maybe the older juice isn’t good enough by itself (he says, grasping at straws)? Or maybe it’s just all going into the NAS stuff.

            • I’m not aware of the comments you mention about the Revival and other early releases. Are you talking about Whisky Review sites or from average punters who actually buy the stuff?
              Checking Whiskybase the Revival gets a very respectable 86/100 average score review from 66 votes and unlike some highly fancied/expensive whisky from Japan there is actually a number of tasting notes as well. Now I don’t believe every score on Whiskybase(mainly for the expensive stuff from closed Japanese distilleries and I have reasons for that), but I think the Revival score is for real as it is something people can actually afford to buy and open.
              Further to that, scrolling through all the younger Mars on Whiskybase and only 2 bottling’s score under 80/100 and both of those I agree with. I’d say that’s impressive
              Of the older Mars stuff I’ve tried I’ve given more Gold ratings to Mars than I have Kaurizawa. Haven’t updated my full tasted list for a while but I’m up to my 48th expression tasted from Mars and there 126 listed on WB so a decent percentage.
              I may not have explained my original point well enough. It is currently easy for even small players in Japan to release young whiskies that will sell no problem. The thing is, even the best young whiskies can only give you so much. The very best a whisky can be still only comes from spending a certain amount of time in the barrel. It can be very good and on rare occasions excellent from 3 years, but it will usually only be great after at least 10 years. What I wish from Mars, White Oak, Chichibu and eventually the new distilleries is plenty of 10+ year old whisky so I hope there is plenty of production and warehousing we do not no about that will provide us with just that.

          • I understood your point about aging and concern that so many young whiskies being released from Mars might mean that they aren’t keeping much stock for further aging. I fired off an off-the-cuff and somewhat flippant response that didn’t really contribute much beyond my own (largely uninformed) speculation, so apologies for that.
            Chichibu in particular does seem to be releasing older stuff. The last two Isetan releases are 2010 and 2012 distillate, and they just released this almost 8 year-old bourbon barrel commemorating Galaxy Express 999, which I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to order.
            http://www.pal-shop.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=24668

            • The issue that many people have with Chichibu is the price. Read it many times on whisky forums. They question why would you pay 2-3-400 bucks for a 8YO whisky when you can buy a 21-25 year Scottish Whisky for the same price? I myself rarely buy Chichibu these days because of the price.
              Fortunately for Chichibu and the retailers, they can still ride the Tsunami that is Japanese Whisky at the moment.
              Unfortunately however, many bottling’s are only bought by investors to on sell later so very few whisky enthusiasts(many who can’t afford them ) will ever get to taste one. Will a new release 12 YO Chichibu start at 500 bucks? Probably, as a 6 year old Chichibu sold at a recent UK auction for GBP970!!!!

            • I’ve got a bottle of that. Excellent sherry cask matured whisky! Think I paid about 20,000 yen for it back in the day!

        • Reading back through this thread, I am tempted to play the devil’s advocate: from the perspective of your average Japanese distiller, things weren’t always this good. Imagine watching your competitors go out of business, and having to scrape by yourself in some very lean decades. In Ichiro’s case, his family business shuttered. As we say in the U.S., “sh*t got real.” Now, all of the sudden, you have this Biblical flood of Gaijin willing to pay out the nose for whatever you bottle. Call me a cynic, but I cannot blame them for making hay while the sun shines.

          From a slightly more optimistic perspective: we’re also using our custom to support startup-type enterprises which, in the future, may be providing different and interesting alternatives to the established monopolies, hopefully at more accessible prices. I honestly believe that Ichiro does earnest work, with high quality for the limitations facing him. I also accept that whisky making is a time-and-working-capital-intensive endeavor. If I pay ¥35,000 for a bottle today so that Chichibu can release many bottles of 15 Year Old malt in 2025 at ¥10,000/bottle, I’ll consider that a success.

  86. Hi guys and thanks for all the informations !
    Since i’m going to Japan next month, I was wondering if it is interesting to visit the distillery shops (Yamazaki or Hakushu for example) to easily find more bottles ?
    I might visit the Yamazaki shop, but if it is as empty as the other liquor stores, I’ll reconsider…

    Thanks !

    • Both distilleries carry a variety of whisky. Get in the tour early in the morning for better chances of acquiring some good whisky. I was lucky to pick up a couple of bottles of Yamazaki LE 2017, Hakushu Distillery made LE, miniature 17 Hibikis (all in Hakushu distillery and easier to book online).
      My tour at Yamazaki distillery was late in the afternoon ( 2 months advance booking online) and was not able to pick up any whisky at all.

      I suggest you also visit the Fuji Gotemba Distillery and was able to do walk-in for a tour without any advance booking. Closed on Mondays and machinery is off on weekends. I was able to pick up a couple of LE Fuji and s 17yo small batch Fuji Sanroku.
      Good luck and Happy Hunting!

    • Hi Doug, I was at the Yamazaki Distillery in early February this year and they had a few bottles of the Yamazaki Limited Edition 2017 for about 11K yen (about $100 USD) with possibly more in the back.

      If you are going to be in Osaka/Kyoto region, HIGHLY recommend you stop by just for the tasting room, even if you can’t join the tour. You can get half pours of all their high end offerings (Yama 25, Hakushu 25, Hibiki 30) for 2900 yen. Seriously, where else can you even find a bottle of those to sip? They also had some distillery exclusives/experimentals for under 2000 yen, and everything else for under 1000 Yen (Yama 18 was 600 yen).

      FYI – cash only though.

    • Pro tip: ask if there’s anything behind or underneath the counter at the Yamazaki distillery. They had 18 Years Old for ¥25,000 last time I was there. I think they even maybe had a bottle of 25 Years Old, if you’re the type of person up for dropping 4 figures US$/6 figures ¥ on a bottle of whisky.

      Also, I didn’t find the distillery tour that interesting. They were fairly tight-lipped about specific questions, and the tasting of NAS and component barrels was underwhelming. If I could do it again, I would have just shown up to the tasting room and sipped through their extraordinary list of drams.

    • Toured Yamazaki and Hakushu las Nov. Scored a bottle of Hakushu 12 and Hibiki 17 early one morning at the Hakushu Distillery. FYI, we didn’t have to book the tours in advance. Also, keep your eye out for small bottles of new released available only at the distillery.

  87. Mitsukoshi online store has the two most recent Ichiro’s releases (that were previously on the Isetan online store) up today, 1 per person.

      • For those in Tokyo, these two bottles and the Komagatake are currently available In the Mitsukoshi and Isetan department stores.

      • Aesthetic note: does anyone else think the labels on these look cheap? I’ve never been much impressed by the graphic design out of Chichibu, but these are worse than normal. In the pictures linked above, you can actually see the wear around the label edges. Looks like something I could make at home with a laser printer. Normally I wouldn’t complain, but it seems a little chintzy to charge upward of ¥30,000 for a bottle and not put a little more into the packaging.

        For my money, best presentation (for the price) goes to the magesterial-looking “The Nikka” 12, especially in the big box. The 16-faceted Hibiki bottles are always a thing of beauty, and the gold-on-black Yamazaki 18 label is the business.

        • I’m pretty sure these labels come from the department store, not Chichibu. The previous Mitsukoshi Isetan releases have been similar in style, and other private bottlings have their own distinct styles compared to the standard Chichibu label.

          Awkward labels aside, what I don’t like about the Mitsukoshi Isetan labels (not just for Chichibu, but all of their private bottlings) is they tend to not have much information such as barreling and bottling dates.

    • I was advised not available for retail. Bars/restaurants only though somehow at least a few always seem to end up in private hands.

      • I second this, only other place that has it is “dekanta” who claims its exclusive to them (BS) and a few overpriced shops in japan

    • Some bottles have appeared on Yahoo Auction Japan and they are mostly being sold as a set. Expect to pay more than 3 times retail

  88. A little off topic but I thought some might be interested – a 27 year old Mars Komagatake blended from 4 single casks is going to be released in the US in the coming months. No word on release date or price yet, but you may want to ask your favorite liquor store about it. Someone told me this was available to taste at Chichibu whisky festival last week – hoping maybe someone tried it here and could share their thoughts?

  89. Looks like quite a few stores in Ginza and Shibuya have multiple bottles Nikka FTB.. Not sure if it’s anything special (still learning what the significant options are and if anything on the shelves are worth picking up extra).

    I also tasted Nikka Single Malt Mikyagikyo “Malty and Soft” at Zoetrope the other night, anyone know where I might find that series in Tokyo?

    Comments welcome!

    • It’s not special, but it’s damn good. One of the best whisky values for the yen. And not available in the US.
      Sometimes they’re in short supply during high tourist season.

      • Thanks METAMAN!

        I have a Hi Harmony (my intro bottle), Nikka Coffey Grain (regular), Komagatake “Rindu”, and H17.. Working my way up, but finding good Japanese stuff is NOT easy.

  90. Just an FYI for all of you out there, just passed thru the duty free at Sydney International and they had the Hibiki 21 (regular) in stock. They had around 20 bottles at a ridiculous price of AU 900.00 or US $709.00! All I could think was, “No wonder we can’t find this in Japan, all the 21’s are collecting dust here in Australia!”

  91. Thanks for the free flow of information.. I’m new to the Japanese whisky world and this is a great resource. I hope I can contribute and help others in the future!

    • I ordered mine a few days ago but as it is a personal source I can’t say from where. I can say it was Y9000 after local tax removed.

        • Haven’t tried it yet as only just released. I will be posting a review here once I have my bottle.
          There has been in the vicinity 15-16 different releases of Ichiro’s Malt and Grain the White Label being the most basic.

    • I managed to grab the last one at Liquors Hasegawa two days ago, and I saw the shelf get cleared in about 5 minutes at Tanakaya yesterday evening.

      This one is Japan’s WWA nominee for limited edition blended whiskey of the year, I believe.

  92. I love following the post here and the enthusiasm of fellow whisky lovers.

    Here are some finds:
    Fuji Gotemba 18yo small batch at the Yamaya Shibuya 2 bottles left as of yesterday. Around 26k Yen plus tax.
    2 Hibiki 21 at Don Quijote Roppongi for 39k Yen Plus tax.
    1 Yamazaki 18yo Mizunara at Don Quijote Roppongi for 360k Yen plus tax.

    Happy Hunting!

    Cheers,
    whisky_sailor

    • Don Quijote used to be a discount whisky retailer only a few years back, selling things marginally below msrp. Now they are premium retailer, selling things ridiculously way above retail price! Luckily, places like Bic Camera and department stores still keep their prices at msrp.

    • I flew out of Narita Terminal 1 couple days ago and saw a duty free shop selling this bottle for Y7950. I did not grab it because I already maxed out how many I could bring back!! I have seen BIC has it back in December for Y8000 before tax.

  93. Has anyone here checked out the LiquorOff stores? It seems like they know what they are selling, but have a good number of interesting products on offer.
    Since they are resellers, they offer mainly one-offs (last month’s finds), so perhaps making the trip out to one is a gamble not worth the effort for the short-term visitor vs. a resident. Opinions? Or, do they have offerings that don’t make their Twitter feed that make the trip worthwhile pretty much anytime?
    Btw, props to Dramtastic for shining a light on “other” Japanese whiskys.

    • I’ve been to a couple in Tokyo, I didn’t find much of anything Japanese whisky-wise. Didn’t think their prices were so great and there was a Shinanoya a few doors down that had better stuff at better prices.

      Their strategy is to buy liquor for pennies on the dollar and resell it. So a lot of sellers aren’t offering good much good stuff to buy these days, unless someone’s really hard up for cash.

  94. Wow i am posting just to get back on this thread 😉 Komagatake bourbon barrel are still up for grabs on the site, so I’m guessing its not that good? Has anyone tried it?

    • It’s probably fine for a Komagatake. But you are essentially paying 2x the price for the department store label. If it’s no different than most of the other Komagatake releases either track down one of the older ones for less, or wait for the next release.

    • I was contemplating on the Komagatake Double cellar but decided to give it a miss as the price is almost comparable to their annual Komagatake Nature of Shinshu release (which contains whiskies aged more than 20 years). The double cellar on the other hand is a young 3yo whisky. The double cellar tagline is quite gimmicky advertising as most whiskies are aged offsite anyway.

      Would be interested to taste the Yakushima aging though to see the tropical influence on the whisky

  95. I posted a comment that is currently awaiting moderation (probably because of too many links). So here’s a mini comment to say that there are new Ichiro’s Malt and Komagatake releases up at Isetan’s online shop.

    • Looks like the Ichiro’s are already sold out, how long has it been out? Also they raised the prices on them by 5,000 yen since the last exclusive release (the Port Pipe).

      The Komagatake is 2x the price of any other Komagatake Bourbon barrel release and no older apparently (or even younger).

      • Interestingly enough, the Port Pipe 2012 seems to be up for sale again on the isetan site. Get it if you missed it last time.

      • As far as I know these were all released today morning. There were two new Ichiro’s Malt bottles, a “Mizunara Heads” which was sold out before I posted, and a Sherry hogshead which is now gone. The two previous bottles were also restocked, but the 1st fill bourbon was already gone before I saw these and I didn’t realize until after I submitted my first comment (still in moderation). The Port Pipe is still there as of now.

        The older Akashi bottles were restocked also.

  96. Isetan has several new and previous releases up on their online shop this morning.

    Ichiro’s Malt
    “2012 Mizunara Hogsheads #1718”
    ¥31,320 (already sold out)
    http://isetan.mistore.jp/onlinestore/product/0110900000000000000000726236.html

    “2010 Sherry Hogshead #2651”
    ¥31,320
    http://isetan.mistore.jp/onlinestore/product/0110900000000000000000726237.html

    “2012 Port Pipe #1825”
    ¥27,000
    (I think this is a previous release that had sold out)
    http://isetan.mistore.jp/onlinestore/product/0110900000000000000000622543.html

    Komagatake Bourbon Cask #1218
    ¥18,360
    http://isetan.mistore.jp/onlinestore/product/0110900000000000000000726238.html

    They also have the two previous Akashi bottlings in stock again.

  97. Another Akashi release, this time celebrating the 50th aniversary of “Big Comic” magazine.

    http://www.pal-shop.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=24551

    5 years 7mo cognac cask aging followed by 8 months Chardonnay cask finish. 50% abv, 471 bottles, ¥10,800 including tax.

    Strangely, cask #61191 previously appeared on a white wine cask finish release from Akashi. Would be interested to know how these numbers work.

    If you want something that screams “Japanese-ness” it doesn’t get much better than this Sumo manga label.

    Still available for order at time of posting.

      • Thank you! I posted on 1/16 for the first bottle I scored in Shinjuku out of pure luck! I guess i was in luck today as well!! So far I have done well this Trip!
        Japanese whisky:
        1 bottle of Hakushu 18 (Y27,000)
        2 bottles of Hibiki 21 (Y27,000)
        2 bottles of Iwai Wine cask (Y2,700)
        2 bottles of Nikka Taketsuru (Y2,500)
        2 bottles of Nikka from barrel (Y2,500)
        Taiwanese whisky:
        1 bottle of Kavalan Solist Sherry (80 USD)
        1 bottle of Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique (100 USD)
        1 bottle of Kavalan Moscatel (180 USD)

        Happy drinking!!

        • Well done! Very good price on the Vinho Barrique which I like a lot. If you get a chance could you please advise where(shop) you bought these.
          Thanks

          • Of course!
            Japanese whisky:
            1 bottle of Hakushu 18 (Y27,000) Local mom & pop in Yokosuka
            2 bottles of Hibiki 21 (Y27,000)
            Local mom & pop in Yokosuka and Shinjuku Odakyu
            2 bottles of Iwai Wine cask (Y2,700)
            Liquor Hanasawa
            2 bottles of Nikka Taketsuru (Y2,500)
            Donki in Yokosuka
            2 bottles of Nikka from barrel (Y2,500)
            Donki in Yokosuka
            Taiwanese whisky:
            1 bottle of Kavalan Solist Sherry (80 USD)
            Eva air 20% off + duty free
            1 bottle of Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique (100 USD)
            Kavalan Store in Taiwan (last bottle and wait time is 1 yr!!)
            1 bottle of Kavalan Moscatel (180 USD)
            Eva air with 20% off + duty free

  98. A new Liquor Mountain store opened in Ginza 777 last Thursday. It’s probably twice as big as the biggest Liquor Mountain I’ve been to (Shinjuku) and a lot of the bottles can be tasted like at Liquors Hasegawa, though the ones I checked all cost ¥300. They also were selling 50ml sample bottles that looked like they had been filled by the shop’s employees, and the markup wasn’t too terrible on what I checked (¥1600 for 50ml of Akashi 10yr old sherry, which is ¥14000 for a 500ml bottle).

    I went yesterday for the first time and it definitely feels like they stocked up for their grand opening, but the Japanese shelf was looking picked over at this point. They had two of the above mentioned 10yr Akashi, and two Akashi 8yr old sherry butt for ¥10,000 (I already have a couple of these and have been enjoying it). They also had 4 or 5 Taketsuru 17s at a ridiculous ¥19,800 or so, plus various other less interesting bottles. I’ll be curious to see how their stock looks as time goes on, as it definitely feels like they’re targeting the more upscale / tourist market, including a floor to ceiling glass case with rare old bottles with corresponding price tags.

  99. Went to Shinjuku today. Check out BIC Camera store and saw about 20 bottles of Hibiki miniture for Y900 after tax. Grab 5 of them. Went to Isentan tasted the Akashi Chardonnay Cask but did not like it much. To me it is a bit too young. A lot of heat!!! Then went to Shinanoya but nothing special there. About to give up and thought why not go to Odakyu since it is not that far. Went to B2 food market where I scored a Ichiro Double Distillers before. Saw few bottles of Ichiro Malt/Grain but nothing special from the shelves in the back. Turned around went to their registers. Saw a bottle of Hibiki 21 for Y27000!! I blinked for a few seconds to make sure I see it right… Yup Hibiki 21. Grabbed the only one on that table. Man I guess I lucked out!!! Once I grabbed it they took the price tag off and stock some sake. Super happy!!! Good scores today for sure!!! Liquid golds are out there!! Best of luck everyone!!!

  100. Just arrived in Tokyo. Found a new small Liquor shop in Azabu Jyuban between 1/2 block down from the Season Ishii and Starbucks (not far from Sarashina horii). Mostly Sake, They didn’t have much of anything with one exception, 3 bottles of the Blackadder Eigashima 3.4 year release, Olorosso Sherry Butt cask #101474, 61.5 ABV. An 847 bottle release. I picked up 1 for 11,000 yen. There’s 2 still left if anyone wants one. I picked up the previous Blackadder release which was quite good for a 3 year. It was only 6,900 yen back then though. So hopefully this one will be as enjoyable.

    If you are in Tokyo and interested in it, there’s 2 left.

    • This Black Adder release as well as an Asta Morris Eigashima 5yr first fill bourbon barrel release at about ¥12,500 can also be found online, but they sure are pricey for such a young age.

    • Went to Shinanoya Setagaya Daita today, found a few more of the Eigashima Blackadder for 9,200 yen, so I grabbed bottle #123 (there were a couple more when I left). Also found the Asta Morris 5yr, for about 11,000 yen. I picked up the last one.
      Also found a White Oak Whisky mixed with ume liqueur for 1100 yen. Picked it up as a curiosity.

      • Probably my last post of this trip, as I head home tomorrow. Went to Shinanoya Ginza this evening. They had several bottles of the Eigashima Blackadder and Asta Morris. Didn’t pick up either. However I did pick up 2 more bottles of the Mars Yakushima Aging for 9,000 yen each. Sorry guys, forgive me, they were the only 2 bottles on the shelf.

        I have to say, it was a pretty productive trip this time. I’m hopeful that 2018 will be plentiful in Japanese whisky for us all.

        • I was literally there like an hour ago and grabbed one each of the Eigashimas despite my complaints above about price.

          Second time now someone posting on this site has grabbed the last Mars Yakushima Aging right before I went to the same shop… I hope it’s good!

          • Sorry man, I would have liked to have met you. Even for a few minutes. Don’t get many chances to meet fellow Japanese whisky enthusiasts. Maybe next time?

            At least the Eigashimas aren’t a bad consolation prize. Yes they’re more expensive than the regular bottles, but not as crazy as the department store versions.
            You might want to check some of the other Shinanoyas. I never went to the Shibuya shop. They usually get a lot of the same. Also maybe the Setagaya Daita shop hadn’t put it out yet when I visited.

        • (Not able to reply to you below, presumably because it’s too many levels of replies)

          No worries on the Yakushima Aging. I likely would have done the same in your shoes. I just found it funny that the same thing happened twice now for the same release. Anyway, I live here so I have a lot more opportunities than those visiting; I shouldn’t complain. 🙂

          • I’ve opened my bottle of the Mars and it’s a very hot whisky that needs a ton of water so depending on your tastes you may have been saved 🙂

    • I opened the Black Adder last night and had a largish pour. As you’d expect with a 3.x year cask strength it had a fair amount of burn. But the more than 3 years in the oloroso barrel has given it quite a lot of flavor and color.

      I imagine most people would want to add water or at least ice. I added a few drops of water about half way through which seemed to mellow it a decent amount and reveal some sweeter flavors, but it’s also possible my tongue was a bit numbed by then. 🙂

      Overall a decent dram but no match for the similarly priced Akashi 8yr old sherry butt #188 I’ve been working on recently.

  101. Don’t know if this was a good luck, or supply has finally gone out on the Yama 18, but I went to Drug Store Mori, in Fukuoka, this evening to pick up some odds and ends there was a Yama 18, in the liquor display case for 25,000 yen. Of course I grabbed it. I’ve been to this shop several times in the last 2 weeks and the most high end Japanese whisky they had was the Nikka blended 12. So it was quite a surprise. I hope supplies do come back on the 18. It’s been very scarce here for the past year.

    • Great score!
      I’d add for readers that aren’t aware, Yama 18 even when it was readily available in Japan sold in most places for Y20,000 so Y25,000 is a excellent considering it’s current scarcity.
      Overall Suntory seems to have done better than Nikka at managing there stock. In Australia Yamazaki and Hakushu 12 are both available and have been for at least 12 months. Yes they were available before that but there was a gap of at least a year prior where no stock was allocated to Australia. You can also buy Yama 18, Hibiki 17 and 21 though at sky high prices.

      • Just a follow up. Went to 5 other Mori Drug Stores in the general vicinity and none of them had the Yama 18.

        So I am guessing this was something they had in the back that they forgot about and found again to put out when I happened to visit that particular store.

        Still happy to have found it.

  102. Happy New Year! Akemashite omodetto gozaimasu!
    Went to downtown Fukuoka today. All the shops were out of everything, except Yamaya, where I found a Hibiki 21 for 29,800 yen, no tax.

    2 days ago in Omuta, which is 1hr away from downtown Fukuoka by rail, I found another Akashi 10yr old sherry butt for 14,00 yen. Plus some rare bourbon and scotch finds.
    Omuta is a great place to go if you miss out on the release of something.

  103. Gents, now back in Oz. My last day in Japan was New Years Day. At Tokyu Hands in Ikebukuro there were many miniature Aged Statements of Hibiki 17 (5 bottles which I purchased all @ ¥915, miniatures make a good gift imho); Hakushu 12 @ ¥795 (maybe 6 bottles, I only bought 1); and Yamasaki 12 @ ¥730 (again maybe 6 bottles, I only bought 1).
    I was 200ml over the allowance on return and declared and explained on re-entry and just got waved through.
    All the best for the new year!
    Cheers, Martin

    • Welcome home!
      Not Japan, but I was in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia for 4 nights from Boxing Day. They have opened an Isetan in the Bukit Bintang(basically the biggest tourist area in KL). They had about 10 different bottling’s of Japanese Whisky mainly Suntory and a couple of Nikka. The price however was something else. I can’t remember them off by heart but you’re looking at 3-6 times more than what you would pay in Japan. It could have even been more but after a quick glance and a calculation of price conversion from Malaysian Ringit I did not bother even contemplating a purchase. Even Australia is cheaper and that is saying something!

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