Following the recent news that Suntory will discontinue the Hibiki 17-Year-Old in Japan from September, Hasumi Ozawa, a member of the Suntory PR team, has confirmed that a new, exciting Hibiki whisky expression, named 'Blender's Choice', will be added to the company's portfolio, launching domestically on September 4th, 2018.
The new expression is the third no-age statement (NAS) whisky to be added to the Hibiki core range, alongside the Hibiki Japanese Harmony and Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select. The blend will include carefully selected vintages, married together by Suntory’s team of expert blenders. According to Ozawa, the addition of a few wine cask-aged whiskies in the blend delivers a round, well-balanced profile and immense depth. 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.
The news of the recent discontinuations took the world by surprise, as fans took to social media to express their sadness. In 2015, years before the Hibiki 17 and Hakushu 12 discontinuations were announced, the Hibiki 12-Year-Old was also removed from the Suntory core line-up. During our talk, Ozawa confirmed that this year will not see the release of a new Yamazaki Limited Edition bottling. The hugely popular range has consistently brought fans a new bottle each year, since 2014.
As more NAS whiskies are released by some of the biggest whisky-makers in the world, this trend may be the future of whisky. Aged stock may be replenished temporarily, but if demand continues to grow, the issue of steady stock aged for a decade or two could always be a recurring problem. The wave of new whisky distilleries across the globe also means that the market will be seeing more and more releases of young whisky. As consumers start to realize that younger liquid does not mean its inferior, the whisky scene will continue to experience rapid change. When age is no longer the main issue, distillers and blenders can experiment freely, playing with different wood finishes, younger vintages, and accelerated aging techniques. Look at the Taiwanese Kavalan distillery and the brand's success after just 10 years. It's all down to accelerated maturation, innovative production methods, and vast experimentation and passion.
Suntory stresses that the aged Hibiki and Hakushu expressions may return in the years to come, but judging by the depth of the Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master's Select, the new Blender's Choice is expected to be a worthy addition to the Hibiki range. Suntory is yet to release any images of the bottle, so sit tight, and look out for more news as the release date approaches.