Hibiki Japanese Harmony Masters Select

Apr 5

Hibiki Japanese Harmony is close to my heart, and when one deviates from a whisky that closely held it can go only one of two ways. Upping the age statement - like the Hibiki 17-Year-Old - takes an already excellent blend to a new level. Other times, producers mess with the blend in an effort to make it ‘fancier’ or ‘special’ when, in reality, it’s not.

2015-2016 was a turning point for Japanese whisky: here’s where the age statements started to disappear in reaction to dwindling stocks. Japanese whisky makers, facing extreme demand, had to make choices - do we raise prices and hold our ground on stocks, do we keep prices the same but suffer short-term for long-term growth, do we experiment with what’s available while rebuilding our longer-aged stocks - like I said, lots of ways to go. The Hibiki Harmony Master’s Select took the latter route, experimenting with a successful blend. This time, it was for the export-only market.

Quick diversion: Japan is much larger and more climatically diverse than most people think. I sometimes think of Japanese whisky as the bastard love child of bourbon and scotch: it can be good young, but can also go 30 years in a cask; it can be a corn whisky with fantastic mouthfeel on an Irish-style still adapted by the Scottish; there are dozens more of these dichotomies and contradictions that Japanese whisky can somehow harmonize into a beautiful whole. A lot of this comes back to that climate diversity - if your country experiences one general weather pattern, you age and distill according to that pattern.

Suntory, as a behemoth, can draw from stocks across Japan (and Scotland, but let’s leave that aside for now), and they do to make their Hibiki blends. The Master’s Select blend was advertised as something special - I mean, you see the words “Master’s Select” and immediately, your mind thinks “ok, maybe this is special”. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the blending went wrong.

When you have something special, like a Hibiki Japanese Harmony, you don’t mess with it. There’s a reason certain brands and product lines stay the same regardless of the changes around them, and a reason why heritage/history/lineage is exploding as something of importance in every whisky-making region of the world. When something is classic, perfect in either simplicity or elegance, YOU DON’T MESS WITH IT. Experiment alongside, experiment elsewhere but don’t be too close to the original. The Master’s Select is simply the Icarus to Harmony’s sun.

On its own, the Master’s Select is not a bad whisky, nor a bad blend. I truly mean and believe that. As a Hibiki product, though - and especially as a Hibiki product directly built on Harmony’s success and name - it forces me to compare the two, and it cannot in any way measure up. The Harmony’s perfect balance, elegance, and complexity that comes across as nuanced simplicity is all lost to young, woody edges, unbalanced malts, and a general feeling of “why?” What ‘Master’ selected this?

The only saving grace is that this was a one-off, travel retail exclusive. That being said, plenty of bottles are still circulating online and on secondary markets. Perhaps this can be a learning lesson for more than just Suntory, but for all whisky-makers: whisky as a lifestyle and a hobby is more popular than ever and is still growing. The days of putting out a one-off or experimental release that fails and simply goes away are over. Even your experiments have to be purposeful. Not everything has to be great or perfect, hell not everything even has to be good…but there has to be a compelling reason for “why?” that people can look back on five years later when trying to understand the product.

As I finish the sip, I continue to ask “why” - and I simply do not see the answer.

Side note: as of 2021, Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select still qualifies as Japanese Whisky as defined recently by the Japan Spirits & Liqueur Maker’s Association.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select: Specs

Classification: Blended Japanese Whisky

Origin: Various Suntory Distilleries

Mashbill: Varied

Proof: 86 (43% ABV)

Age: NAS

Location: Japan

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Price: N/A - Travel Retail Exclusive, no longer available

Official Website

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Dark apple juice. Medium, unstable rims and droplet legs.

Nose: A little funky at first…what is that note? It’s distantly familiar but I can’t place it. It’s grainy, unpeated, with fermenting apple opening up with air. This smells more like Hakushu - perhaps there’s more of that in the blend? That odd note is still there and it’s driving me nuts. Whatever it is dissipates from the nose but not from my head, to be replaced with earthy petrichor.

Palate: Wood and vegetal smoke, gentle and a tad astringent. Green apple candies open up after the first sip. Sweetness settles on my palate. For something ostensibly without grain whisky in it, this is very grainy. Other flavors keep trying to break out, but the raw graininess keeps tamping down the lid. Mouthfeel is full and coating, a touch of oak spice, dryness, and creaminess - the oak is far more present here than it is in the Harmony, and it’s a bit disconcerting. It feels unbalanced.

Finish: Apple-forward at first, mellowing into a long, fruity, oaky finish.

Overall: As I said…this isn’t a bad whisky by any means. Compared to the Harmony, though, it is simply inharmonious. The oak veers between providing body and overwhelming the palate like a car chase down a multi-lane highway. The initial smoke on the nose never appears again, and I miss it. Twenty minutes later, I still cannot for the life of me identify that note on the nose, but I did get it again in subsequent tastings, so I know it wasn’t just a situational quirk. I’ll stick with the Harmony.

Final Rating: 5.2

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)