Suntory’s Hibiki 40 Years Old Is Released At $35,000, Celebrating The Japanese Art Of Blending And Authenticity

Suntory has released Hibiki 40 Years Old, the oldest edition of one of the most coveted Japanese whisky brands.

The super-premium whisky’s global launch was October 3 and only 400 bottles have been made available to the overseas market. The suggested retail price is $35,000 a bottle.

What is special about Hibiki 40 Years Old?

First, it represents the essence of Japanese whisky: the art of blending.

The Japanese whisky industry was established by Suntory back in the early 20^th century. When the vast majority of Japanese people never heard of whisky, Suntory’s founder Shinjiro Torii began his endeavor of producing high-quality whisky in 1923. Since then, he developed and popularized the unique style of Japanese whisky and other companies followed in the market (Nikka released its first whisky in 1940, for example).

Instead of producing single malt whiskies, Torii chose to fine-tune the tastes and flavors of his products by blending superior base whiskies for Japanese consumers. The company built three distilleries ––Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Chita––to perfectly control the quality.

Out of the diverse products Suntory currently offers, Hibiki is a quintessential brand that manifests the company’s dedication to blended whiskies.

Secondly, Hibiki 40 Years Old adds a unique dimension of flavor to the classic Hibiki style.

Hibiki has been known for its elegance and purity with a lingering aroma. At the Hibiki 40’s launch event in New York on October 21, Suntory’s chief blender Shinji Fukuyo said, “In Hibiki 40, you will find a hint of patina like a historic library or an ancient Japanese temple. When we made Hibiki 35, the antique character was yet to emerge.”

In 1984, right after graduating from college, Fukuyo joined Suntory. Since then, he has devoted himself to blending whisky. Hibiki 40 is a result of his numerous trials and errors to fully express the potential of the whiskies whose aging period largely overlaps Fukuyo’s life as a blender.

Hibiki 40 is a blend of five whiskies. Yamazaki aged in an American white oak barrel (1978 and 1983 vintages) is the primary liquid that brings out the flavor of the patina of antiques; lightly peated Hakushu (1981) and grain whisky from the Chita distillery (1979) are also the main players to add rounded smokiness and sweetness respectively. Yamazaki Spanish sherry cask (1978) and Yamazaki Mizunara Japanese oak cask (1983) each provide unique accents and further complexity.

“As a result, the blend reveals aromas of Japanese loquat, dry lemon peel and clove. It unveils flavors of pure acacia honey and dry fig on the palate, culminating in an aromatic aftertaste,” says Fukuyo.

To celebrate the historic blend, the Hibiki 40’s bottle is made of crystal glass with 30 facets crafted by Kagami Crystal, a purveyor to the Japanese imperial family. The cap of the bottle is hand-carved and it comes in a box that is decorated by hand with traditional maki-e, mother-of-pearl inlay, and gold lacquer to pay homage to Japanese heritage and tradition.

And The Future?

On its website, Suntory says, “Hibiki 40 Years Old is a groundbreaking Japanese whisky, born from over a century of dedication to craft at The House of Suntory. This is why Hibiki 40 proudly meets the standards set forth by the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association for labeling whiskies ‘Japanese’. “

What does this mean?

There is an industry-wide issue behind the statement that Suntory strives to solve for the future of Japanese whisky: credibility.

When Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible named Suntory’s Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 the best whisky in the world in 2015, Japanese whisky became popular and famous overnight.

Since then, there have been countless new “Japanese whisky” brands entering the market, whose origin is sometimes questionable. For example, to take advantage of the popularity of Japanese whisky, some producers bottle lower-quality whisky made outside of Japan and sell it as “Japanese whisky”.

Well-established Japanese whisky companies like Suntory took action and in 2021, the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association (JSLMA) introduced new Japanese whisky labeling standards for its association members (the members include Suntory and approximately 80 other companies).

To qualify as Japanese whisky, the product must meet various criteria that stipulate ingredients, production methods, location and so forth.

Two years after the introduction, the grace period is over and in April this year, the standards began being implemented. Although not all whisky producers and members of JSLMA, a large majority of Japanese whisky producers are.

All this means is that consumers are more likely to be certain of whisky’s origin and credibility by looking at the label.

Suntory created the Japanese whisky industry 100 years ago. Hibiki 40 Years Old is a monumental blend of whisky that reflects the history and pride of Suntory; it is also a bottle that exemplifies what authentic Japanese whisky is.

“We hope the Japanese whisky industry will continue healthy growth in the next century to come,” says Fukuyo.