Hibiki Blossom Harmony 2021 Edition 70cl

Hibiki Blossom Harmony 2021 Edition 70cl

The 2021 Harmony Blossom is a blend that was finished in casks made from Sakura wood (Japanese Cherry Blossom trees). The flowering of these Cherry trees is a revered and traditional event in Japan that runs from the end of March to early May, celebrating Japanese culture: Hanami – the transient beauty of flowers.

For this expression, the blend was a marriage of single malts aged in Bourbon casks with the Chita grain being the Sakura aged whisky in the union. The label and presentation box was specially created in reverence of the modern day cherry blossoms.

About Hibiki & Suntory

Hibiki (Japanese: 響) (meaning "resonance" or "echo") is a premium blended whisky produced in Japan by Suntory Global Spirits, a subsidiary of Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd, which itself is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan. It has won several awards. 

Hibiki was introduced in 1989 by Suntory, originally with expressions having age statements of 17 and 21 years. (In the convention for whisky age statements, the age stated is the age of the youngest whisky in the blend.) A 30-year expression was introduced in 1997, and a 12-year expression was introduced in 2009.

The Hibiki featured in the 2003 film Lost in Translation in which Bill Murray's character Bob Harris had to make a number of advertisements. Some credited its rareness with the demand that arose following the film.

In 2014, the brand was moved into an American-headquartered subsidiary called Beam Suntory when the subsidiary was created following the company's purchase of Beam Inc., the producer of the world renowned bourbon whiskey Jim Beam.

A new expression called "Japanese Harmony", with no age statement, was introduced in 2015. The new blend was said to use the same malt and grain whiskies used in the first Hibiki blend, being a blend of at least 10 malt and grain whiskies from three distilleries, aged in five different cask types, with some elements aged up to approximately 20 years.

As of October 2017, the brand was available in three variations (and the blends with age statements of 12 and 30 years were no longer listed on the company website):

Hibiki 17 and 21 years old
Hibiki Japanese Harmony (no age statement)
In May 2018, reports started coming out indicating the discontinuation of the Hibiki 17 expression. As of March 2024, the Hibiki 17 expression is no longer listed on the company website.

In 2023 for Suntory's 100th year anniversary, and 20 years after the appearance of Lost in Translation, director Sofia Coppola was asked to direct the company's anniversary tribute video starring Keanu Reeves, with a mix that included scenes from her film along with footage of her father Francis Ford Coppola and director Akira Kurosawa's Suntory Whiskey advertisement from the 1970s.

43% ABV

70cl