ScotchingHard
Hibiki 21 Year
Blended — Japan
Reviewed
September 19, 2017 (edited September 10, 2018)
Had a vertical Hibiki tasting: Some lovely 1.5oz pours of Harmony ($10), 12 year ($22.50), and the 21 year ($75). I feel like Hibiki 21 is for people who enjoy giving and receiving commemorative pens. They see the big picture of accomplishment, and appreciate effortless precision and technique. I am not one of those people.
So, my big picture perspective, even the top-of-the-shelf 21 year Hibiki loses out to the 12 year Yamazaki. Hibiki, as a brand, is all about harmony, meditation, asking questions without answers, writing haikus, and becoming aware of your nature and nature itself. Fine and dandy. But when I pay $75 for a dram, I want Godzilla.
NOSE: Very floral. Like with Hibiki 12, I’m stuck on cherry blossoms after a light rain. Terroir is just a nice way to say stereotyping. Richer, more buttery, and more nutty than the 12. I do not get sandalwood oils with the other two Hibikis (they promised I would!), but I get some here. It’s very perfumy, like you want to pour some into a Glade plug-in.
PALATE: Soft, flowery, gentle. Full body that’s all fat and no muscle. Oily. Walnut oil, citrus oils. Buttery sweetness with a hint of bitterness, ala Crème brulee with burnt sugar. Lovely apricots and nectarines. Plums and sultanas. It tastes expensive, to be sure.
FINISH: Is that peat? I’ll call it lapsong suchong. Stereotyping again. Layers of various stone fruit notes, essential wood oils, rich fruitcake, slowly fading. This is a whiskey that never fought back, for better and worse.
WITH WATER: Water kills Hibiki. Seriously. It’s like the twist ending to M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs.
VERDICT: To summarize: it’s a blend that appeals to the tastes of the masses, and the pockets of the fortunate few; floral nose; luxurious and balanced palate; a little peat on the finish; does not like water; overpriced and overhyped, in my estimation. Sounds like Johnny Walker Blue? To be fair, Hibiki is 43% ABV and has a little more oomph, especially winning out on the finish. JW King George V is 43%. I’ve never tried King George, and it’s priced in the same ballpark as Hibiki 21 ($450-ish). If I ever make fuck you money, I’ll do a side-by-side between Hibiki 21 and King George. And I’ll have Glenfiddich 12 with a crystal dropper instead of water to zero the palate in between drams and to open up the whiskies.
MARK: 84/100. Minus one star for the price.
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Great review, agree with the commemorative pen statement :-) and the compass box one to. Only blends I've really liked have come from them
I had a sample of the 1983/2015 port Ellen OB last month. Let's just say it's the reason I stopped ordering single malt scotch for now. My taste buds need exploring some jungles after reaching the peak of Kilimanjaro.
I will review and rate Port Ellen on my 100th review. Probably in December. Very much looking forward to find out what all the fuss is about :-)
I love compass box. I guess that's the only blend brand I've latched on to. I thought this is not a luxury whisky was worth it. Flaming heart is more than worth it. I really liked yamazaki. Yam 18 is priced similar to hibiki 21, and I thought yam 18 was worth it. I love brora and port Ellen. I've paid $190 for a single pour of some of these and it was actually worth it for me. So it's not just the money. I expected to be blown away and I just wasn't. You may be right that I rate blends a little harder.
A well-written review, as always! However, I think I have to disagree with some of your conclusions. Comparing JW Blue Label with Hibiki 21... boy, that's blasphemy ;-) Fair enough, if you factor in the price point, you must be disappointed. Following the same logic, it must be impossible to rate older Brora's or Port Ellen's a 5 star, as no whisky in the world is worth that much money. Yes, Japanese whiskies have become very expensive, and I tend to agree that this money is better spent elsewhere. But when I review and rate a whisky, I am only interested in the intrinsic quality. Considering that this little dram is a BLEND, I think it's doing very well! In fact, I do not know any better blends than aged Hibiki's, beside the various Compass Box offerings (most of them being blended malts, to be correct). Although I disagree with your jugdement of Hibiki 21, I can certainly second that Yamazaki 12 is a better value! Cheers.
As good as this is, I kind of agree it may not be worth the price. Personally, i thought this was really good, but is it worth $500? It's just the huge allure of Japanese whiskies that really caused this obscene price inflation.
You eyeing my lemon drink?!
Yes! Some insight and entertainment is what I hope to provide. I try not to take tastings too seriously and want to share the silly fun. I agree with your Shyamalan opinions :)
While I feel like all of your reviews are insightful and entertaining, some are more enjoyable than others. This is one of your better ones, IMO. A fun read, for sure. Thanks for that. As far as the Shyamalan endings...I hope we're in agreement that Signs isn't in the same ballpark as 6th Sense, but Signs is miles above The Village and the dreadful Happening lol. Sadly, I've read that The Happening is so bad it's become a cult classic. I don't think some people know what a cult classic is.