Hibiki 21 - Review
Age: 21 years
Barrel type: mixed
Region: Japan
ABV: 43%
Price: $500+ (not a typo)
Additional details: unsure if it's chill filtered or if there's color added
I haven't done a long-form review in a while, so trying to make amends with this review of a high-end Japanese whisky, and one of the few spirits ever to receive a 99 score on my much beloved Distiller app.
I was lucky enough to receive a sample of this elixir recently from a whiskey-loving buddy, and am tremendously appreciative given how costly this whisky has become in the last few years.
Appearance: Although I only had a sample, not the whole bottle, it is worth noting that Hibiki 21 probably has the prettiest bottle in the business, a gorgeous, delicate, glass creation that more closely resembles a decanter than a throw-away or recyclable container. Just google it -- it looks like a high-end decanter and even has a glass stopper at the top.
I so badly want to believe that the whisky itself does not have any added color, as it's a rich, deep, chestnut shade that would be the platonic ideal of the genre if naturally colored. As a whisky that's spent a long time marrying with oak, it makes sense that it should be dark in color.
Nose: This is a well-aged dram, without a doubt. Polished, antique furniture is the first scent that I get, like opening an ancient armoire. The entire Hibiki line has powerful floral overtones as well, which meet their match with a huge honey note. On happy returns, I also enjoyed some scents blending cherry and vanilla. Some people say that they detect smoke here from the peated malt from Hakushu, but I wasn't noticing it.
Palate: Fruits abound on the palate, which is sweet and lively, without any of the mustiness of overaging: cherries, stone fruit, and blood oranges are prominent. I also noticed more of that vanilla from the nose, and a core sweet malt note. I suspect that the grain whiskies are adding some of the lighter fruit flavors and the vanilla. There's no doubt that this is an accomplished blend.
Finish: Ah, here's the smoke. It remains faint and is more akin to an aftertaste of hookah smoke rather than the intense, cigar-like flavors of an Islay scotch. There are pleasant, lingering notes of raspberry.
Value for Money and Final Impressions: Hibiki 21 is one of the most renowned whiskies in the world. And it certainly is good. Would I pay $500 for a bottle? Not until I'm a lot richer than I am now. But it's a whisky that's worth trying once in a lifetime, at least, to understand what a high-end Japanese whisky should taste like. It does not necessarily stand head and shoulders above more reasonably priced drams, but it is a refined, curated expression of the essence of a blended whisky, and certainly is a cut or two above Johnnie Walker's more vaunted Blue Label.
Rating: A-