Japanese Whiskey As Rare As An Original Movie Idea In The USA These Days

Do you live in the USA and want some 30-year-old Hibiki whiskey from Japanese distiller, Suntory? Good luck. Unless you live in Japan, are extraordinarily wealthy or have some other very good reason why you have access to Japanese whiskies, it’s more than likely you will not be enjoying the smooth and sweet taste of a Japanese whiskey. Only two distillers – Suntory and Nikka – export to the USA and they do so only sparingly, at around 15,000 cases per year. Japanese whiskies are known for being on level with more notable Scottish whiskies and sometimes being better – in Hibiki’s case – but the Japanese distillers are tradition-minded and please the needs of their Japanese markets first and foremost before exporting to the USA and Europe. So if you find yourself with an opportunity to purchase a Hibiki, Yamazaki or Hakushu this month, WC strongly suggests you leap on that opportunity like Hollywood leaps on a rebooted superhero sequel movie idea.

Suntory will launch Yamazaki 25 and Hakushu Heavily Peated for the USA market in late 2013.