Hibiki Japanese Harmony

Quick hit review. The art of blending is front and center in Japanese whisky, and it's often misunderstood when your main focus is on Scotch. On the nose, I'm getting bags of tropical fruits, think of banana, lychee and honeydew melon. Lemon drops, wood spices and some floral notes come through, and it has a certain elegance that is hard to describe. The lush and juicy arrival veers towards peaches, oranges and mango, giving way to lime juice and spearmint. Silky texture. Green tea, lemongrass and guava accompany the fresh and citric aftertaste. Hibiki perfectly captures the essence of Japanese whisky - and makes for an excellent infinity bottle! RATING: 3.5/5.0 stars ≙ 84 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE

That's unnecessary. It's good that samples exist.

Plenty of honey and fruit, with a strong vanilla note. A solid whisky, but a little too flat for my taste. The vanilla is so dominant that it washes out the other flavours.

The aroma is a little paintwork, it is well smoothed, wood, flowers in the depths, vanilla, caramel, apples, young dried apricots. After a sip, there is more vanilla and molasses in the aroma. Taste - floral, molasses, toffee, creaminess. Young and sweet! Frisky, caustic, zealous and sweet at the same time! On a quick sip - burnt, cane sugar. The aftertaste is medium, sweet zest. Excellent blend.

Balanced, fruity, lyrical with notes of vanilla, honey and the dry summer afternoon

Part of a small Japanse Whisky tasting with Nobushi, Yamazaki, Taketsuru, Hibiki, The Chita, Yoichi, Miyagikyo and Ichiro pear, tangerine, vanilla, honey, pepper, yellow fruits, white pepper, whiff of smoke and a bit earthy

A wonderful introduction to the world of Japanese whiskies. Very harmonious, with both sweetness and woody notes. Excellent!

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2024/12/06/oswas-2024-rd-part-1-2/ I’ve tried this a few times over the years. Nice enough, I’ve never been bowled over by it. Now an OSWA nominee, let’s revisit it – €9.91 for a sample, jeez! N: This one speaks of the commendable subtlety and consideration that affordable [supermarket] Japanese whisky was twenty years ago. Tapping in, this is all about the gentle touch, the heart of barley, touches of honey and green melon, a little butter,… youthful but well-tempered. T: An antidote to the many high-octane cask-forward flavour monsters. I’m detecting a subtle mix of casks – ex-bourbon and > ex-sherry most prominent – but the young sour-ish spirit is just as candid. Gentle but with a sustaining quality, 43% appears adequate in the middle stages. F: With grain-like/Jenever/Lindores/Famous Grouse vibes,… it’s youthful, but with nothing out of place, you can imagine this style giving a lot more as it matures further. That said,… C: ,… good whisky, but would I pay £74 for a bottle? Not a chance in this climate, one that’s slowly but surely becoming a buyer’s market once again.

Skillfully made, this sweet blend should appeal to a broad audience.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Category: Blended Region: Japan Bottler: Suntory Whiskey Distilleries: Yamazaki, Hakushu, Chita Barrel type: Ex-Bourbon, Ex-Sherry, Mizunara Oak Fortress: 43% Volume: 700 ml Bottling date: 04/12/2021 Age: no indication Filtration: none Dye: no Nose. Quiche-mish, lychee, papaya, sea buckthorn, yellow plum, candied orange peel, floral tones (lily, rose water), vanilla marshmallow, sandalwood, nutmeg. Taste. At first, there is a honey-caramel sweetness with flavors of grapes, citrus fruits, lychee, candied fruits, vanilla. White chocolate velvety rolls like pastry cream. And pepper, ginger, nutmeg are connected very unobtrusively in the background. Aftertaste. Medium duration. Not too intense. Kish-mish, yellow apricot (closer even to yellow dried apricots already), nutmeg. Summary. A pleasant and very high-quality Japanese blend that can compete on equal terms with Scottish molts and blends in the age category up to 12 (and for some manufacturers up to 15) years. Everything is with him. Light, predominantly sweet fruity aroma with a touch of oriental spices. The flavor palette is interesting, but I would not call it complex. Whiskey is extremely gentle, what is called “soft”, it is pleasant to drink it, but this creates a feeling of a certain “emasculated” taste, there is not enough brightness of taste and you have to strain, picking out certain nuances of it. Well, here we should not forget that this is a blend and their intensity of taste often suffers with all its possible complexity. Still, their task is to please the widest possible range of consumers, and for this it is necessary that the drink be “friendly” and drink as easily and pleasantly as possible. The aftertaste also leaves a positive impression, but does not stay with you for long. In general, it is both exotic and simple, curious, but nothing extraordinary. Rating: 84 out of 100.

Good malt base, light florality, fruit. No "unpleasant" vegetable or acetone notes. Very pleasant to drink

really not worth the money a Ballantine's 17Y could easily beat it

Odour: rubber note, dirty note, lubricating oil, maritime breeze, Taste: peppery, floral, dirty, oily Finish: medium long, eraser, tropical fruits

*This review was originally written in Korean and translated through ChatGPT. There may be translation errors.*

Smell - you can smell the alcohol, but not too strongly. You can smell the plums. Taste - you can't smell the alcohol too strongly. A bit pungent. You can smell the raisins, quite okay for a non-peated one.