At BourbonBlog.com, we have found a piece of Japan that is a must for your whisky collection.. There is much that goes into this beautiful bottle of Suntory Limited’s Hibiki 12 Year Old a premium blended Japanese whisky that no other whisky of this age in the world has to offer. However, please let me first introduce our cat Kiki, which happens to sound an awful lot like “Hibiki.” No, we didn’t feed this to her, she only sniffed it and gave her review only on the nose below.
This is a superior blend of over 30 handcrafted, specially aged whiskies, Hibiki is Suntory’s original blended whisky. Carefully selected malts are then blended with a variety of Japanese grain whiskies that feature a touch of malt matured in Umeshu casks — special casks that have been used in the long-term aging of Japanese plum liqueur. The blend is topped off with a superlative vintage whisky aged more than 30 years.
The artistry of blending is combined with bamboo charcoal filtering, a unique process which gives Hibiki its unique sweet and mellow flavor.
Whisky: Hibiki 12 Year Old Japanese Blended Whisky
Distillery: Suntory, Osaka, Japan
Proof: 86%; approximately 43% ABV
Color: Medium Amber
Nose: Mellow citrus, restrained smoke, floral with hint of banana.
Taste: This is a delicate and enticing floral blend that has an amazingly smooth tea like quality to it wrapped around honey, vanilla enrobed in a coating of soft beeswax. The oak comes through with fruit flavors including a bit of banana, pineapple and a touch of lemon. While the entry is light, the layers of flavor are surprisingly complex.
Finish: Crisp and mellow and then the smoke comes back at the end briefly with a mildly bold kick just to remind you this indeed is a seriously refined whisky.
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