Suntory Hibiki whiskey was first released in 1989 and has since gained a reputation as the archetype of balance, the characteristic that makes Japanese whiskey so extraordinary. You may recognize the broad-shouldered cylindrical bottle from the movie. Lost in TranslationAs sold by Bill Murray. But the new Hibiki 40 is a whole different animal.
I was in Paris for the global launch of Hibiki 40 and had the chance to sit down with Suntory's fifth-generation chef blender, Shinji Fukuyo, who has been with the company since 1984.
In Japanese whiskey, the heart of the process is the blender, not the still. This release is the oldest retail blend Fukuyo has produced since taking over as head blender in 2009. He said the challenge in making a blend with whiskeys this old is maintaining balance and achieving the fruity top notes that typically come from younger whiskeys. The final blend was a combination of five different whiskeys from three different distilleries; all of them were at least 40 years old:
- Yamazaki malt whiskeys from 1978 and 1983Aged in American white oak barrels. This gives the blend roundness, body, and some bright notes that are hard to achieve with older whiskey.
- Hakushu lightly peated malt whiskey Since 1981, it has been adding liveliness and a subtle smokiness to the mix.
- Chita grain whiskey, one from 1979 and the other from 1981.which adds a different dimension of flavor and texture as well as a different sweetness.
- Yamazaki malt whiskey from 1980 The new brand is matured in ex-Sherry Spanish oak barrels, which gives the blend a rich dried fruit sweetness and a complex hazelnut flavour.
- Yamazaki malt whiskey from 1983 aged in Japanese Mizunara oak, which adds notes of spice and sandalwood.
This five-base whiskey was aged for six months before being bottled at 43 percent ABV.
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I asked Fukuyo how he knew the mix was right, that it was time to stop tinkering.
“I can taste 100 or 200 glasses, but some ideas come to me right away,” he said, adding that “it takes time to adjust.” But once he decided what the goal was for a blend, he said he and his team came together to put it together.
The lifespan of a head agitator at this level, the absolute highest level, is extremely unique. His palate is like a tuning fork to which an entire orchestra is tuned, and the pressure on his shoulders comes, in many ways, not just from precious inventory but also from the precious irreplaceability of time. After all, these whiskeys are nearly half as old as the company.
Fukuyo feels this pressure “behind” him. To maintain a certain basic palate within himself, he lives by a strict routine, waking up at 4 a.m. every day and arriving at work at 7:30 a.m. every day. To maintain consistency of taste, the lunch menu remains unchanged at 8 p.m. years.
“This is not a scientific approach,” he said. “But emotionally I want to rely on something.” On days when he has a cold or is tired and unsure of his senses, he relies on his team to double or triple-check his tasting impressions.
Fukuyo knows the whiskeys, which have been on hand for at least four decades, like a coach knows his own team. Every eight to ten years, each barrel is evaluated. If the barrel is in danger of over-ripening, its contents are transferred to neutral glassware. If the keg is too empty due to evaporation, they put the kegs together. So, for example, five old barrels can become two.
Because of his team's keg management duties, Fukuyo already had a mental map of his inventory when it came time to create this blend: “When we made the Hibiki 40, we said, 'Okay, that keg, that keg, and that keg.' he said.
The price of $35,000 will make this a rare luxury for few people. But for the brand and the category, this is a once-in-a-century microphone drop moment: luxury Japanese whiskey is no longer Scotch's little brother.
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“I know the price of Hibiki 40 is too high,” Fukoyo said. “[But] I added very sophisticated, very smooth aromas and flavors. The antique tastes you feel when you enter a very old library or an old house. [When you sip it]You can slowly feel that very emotional atmosphere.
So what kind of bottle would be worthy of such a rare whiskey? They start with a 12-sided wooden box made from 12 different types of native Japanese wood. House of Suntory then partnered with Japanese artist Eriko Horiki to hand-make the box's label. The bottle inside this box is made of intricately crafted, faceted crystal by a famous Japanese glassware manufacturer who also supplied the Japanese imperial family. It is decorated with traditional Japanese maki-e, a traditional artisan lacquer technique, with mother-of-pearl and gold inlay as a nod to Japanese artistic heritage and tradition.
The bottles are now available in limited quantities in select countries including the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Northern Europe, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Global Travel Retail.
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