This Japanese blended whisky was introduced to select European markets this past May. I was informed yesterday by their PR company that the whisky will be launched in the U.S. on October 1st.
I am very excited about this. Suntory has many great whiskies in addition to their Yamazaki single malts. Hibiki is one. Hakushu, their other single malt distillery, is another. Maybe this means we might see Hakushu coming to the US in the near future? Let’s hope so.
Here’s some details on Hibiki from Suntory’s website.
I’m getting a review sample shorty and will report back with my thoughts.
It’s great that you guys are getting this excellent whisky. I will keep my fingers crossed that you get the superb Hakushu as well.
I have reviewed this already on the TWE Blog, will post a link after John has done his review.
This is great news! Maybe some of the other Japanese spirits companies will start to see the US as a market. I’d love to be able to get Hakushu, Yoichi, Hanyu and other Japanese whiskies without having to send someone to japan.
Suntory is in merger talks with Kirin right now, so if that comes through expect much better distribution in the US.
Sku, you can order a lot of amazing stuff from the UK (The Whisky Exchange and Royal Mile), assuming your state doesn’t have shipping issues. I’m in NY and have tried Hakushu 12 and a number of Yoichis and Karuizawas.
But it’d be nice not to have to order from the UK….
I tried the 12 not so long ago. It was very nice, but not as good as the 17, in my opinion. Well worth trying, though.
Any idea where they’re launching it? i.e. will there be a road trip in my future if I’m looking to try it (since, in everything but Canadian whisky, we seem to get ignored down here in Atlanta)?
John M, we’re not getting the 17–or any of the older marks. Maybe in the future?
Neil, I would imagine you should look where you currently find Suntory Yamazaki single malts.
I can’t wait to try it. I agree with Sku and hope more Japanese Whiskeys are made available in the US, especially the Yoichi, Nikka, Hakushu, and Ichiro’s Malt. I had a friend who was stationed in Japan for 2 years and said they produce some the world’s best whiskys.
[...] with Japanese bamboo charcoal, which purifies the water and enhances the flavor, the Hibiki premium-blended whiskey range has received 15 gold medals, as well as the 2007 and 2008 title of [...]
[...] first wrote about this here last week. It won’t be available in the U.S. until October 1st. For this reason, I don’t [...]