Suntory is the leader in the Japanese whisky industry, and to understand Suntory, you must understand Suntory. Suntory has 3 core Japanese brands, namely Yamazaki, Hakushu and Hibiki, the first 2 brands are single wheat whisky, wine encyclopedia has been introduced, ring is the harmony of whisky, is also today's protagonist.
The world's most expensive blend of whiskies
Japanese whisky has been taught in Scotland for only a few decades, but it is surprising that it can be suppressed in many places. Therefore, the rise of Riwei is not without reason.
If you search for blended whisky on the world-renowned price comparison website wine searcher, you will find that the world's 5 most expensive blended whiskies are all covered by Japan. Among them, 4 of them are self-sounding, and the first place is naturally also sounded in the pocket.
Screenshot dated June 21, 2019
"Blending" means using a mixture of malt whisky and grain whisky, and the harmony between the winemaker's experience and skillful hands is a miracle in blending whisky.
Because in general, the price of blended whisky is not too high, compared to single wheat whisky, it is very cost-effective. The price of the ring has always been high, mainly because it has always performed well in international competitions, and the stock of raw wine has been low.
"The World's Best Blended Whisky"
Ring is saddled with the goal and identity of "creating Japanese luxury whisky", and there must be corresponding top products to support it.
Of course, Ringer is also a soft winner of the award, including ringing 21 years of whisky at least 3 times by the World Whisky Awards (WWA) as "the world's best blended whisky". Ringer 30 years has also been named "World's Best Blended Whisky" by WWA for two consecutive years from 2007 to 2008.
Founded by Whisky Magazine in 2007, WWA has become the world's most authoritative annual judge and industry award for the spirits category, and has been called the "Oscar of the whisky world."
The world's earliest blended whisky Chivas appeared in the mid-19th century, founded in 1989, the ancient pair of new life, the sound is undefeated. It's the best in the world within 10 years of being out, which is really great.
Where does the original wine come from?
Suntory has 3 Riwei distilleries – Yamazaki, Shirasu and Chita. The original wine of the ringing comes from these 3 wineries.
Built in 1923 as Japan's first whisky distillery, Yamazaki's 50-year-old single-wheat whisky is Japan's most expensive whisky, with an auction price of $2.38 million a bottle. Yamazaki uses water that is one of the "Famous Waters" and is also the water used by Senritsu, the originator of the Japanese tea ceremony, which has been known for its luscious water quality since ancient times; in addition, malt with different peat values, different brewer's yeast and brewer's yeast will be used to produce malt whisky original sake.
Originally built in 1973 at an altitude of about 700 meters above sea level in Mount Kai Komagata, Shirashu is surrounded by a forest and is a rare "forest distillery" where the 25-year-old Single Wheat Whisky produced in Shirashu has won the WWA "World's Best Single Wheat Whisky" award. Shirashu uses one of the "Top 100 Famous Waters" Omi-Shirakawa, a clear flowing spring formed after filtering through layers of granite mountains of 2,978 meters, which is a soft water that is very suitable for whisky brewing; in addition to a variety of peat roasting degrees and various yeasts, its distillers are also more varied, so the original malt whisky produced is more abundant and diverse.
What many people don't know is that in 2012, Suntory added grain whisky distillation equipment in the Baizhou distillery, which is very small, can use different grain ratios, different yeast strains, and the liquor can also be intercepted at any time at different alcohol levels (60-94% abv), the purpose is to create different taste changes. The new grain whisky wine produced here has a taste of dried bonito and is of good quality.
Founded in 1972, Chita mainly produces raw grain whiskey, with corn as the main ingredient. However, after 1985 its scope has expanded to include the production of non-grain whiskies. Continuous distillation is used here, which is a column distillery in 4 different combinations, producing a clear and elegant liquor. According to Satoshi Tachibana, director of the Suntory Planning Department in Taiwan, Chita is a "soup-like character", with light, medium and heavy original sake with different personalities, and through its taste, the taste of malt whisky is introduced to blend different flavors of whisky.
What are the wines?
1. Harmonize whiskey with sound and wind
Hibiki Japanese Harmony Blended Whisky
Inspired by the 24 solar terms of the East, "Ring and Wind" blends more than 12 varieties of malt and grain whisky original wines from Yamazaki, Shirashu and numerous distilleries, and is developed and blended by Shingo Torii, The 3rd Generation Chief Blender of Suntory and Shinji Fuku and Shinji Fuku, the 4th Generation Chief Blender.
The vintage-free version, which was discontinued after 12 years of production, took over the baton and maintained the classic 24-slice bottle of the Ring series. These facets symbolize the 24 solar terms that are closely related to the brewing process and the 24 hours of the day. The beautiful shape is like a bottle of brown perfume, and the concave bottle body can be seen to shine no matter what angle the light is projected from.
The bottle label is made of Echizen washi paper designed by Washito artist Eriko Horigi, and the Kanji for "響" on the label is written by Japanese calligrapher Tanyuki Ogino, making it extremely elegant and delicate.
2. Ring 12 years to blend whisky
Hibiki 12 Years Old Blended Whisky
Carefully blended with original malt and grain wines aged more than 12 years. The use of plum barrels matured into malted original wine, so that the unique sweet and rich aroma of the brand is further sublimated. The recipe also includes original malt wine that has been aged for more than 30 years, making the 12-year-old taste rich and mellow, and the sense of ripeness is doubled.
Unfortunately, the wine was discontinued in 2015. Whisky is a product of time, and even if production grows rapidly in the near future, it will not be able to meet the growing demand in the short term, and Suntory has previously predicted that by 2026, the company's production capacity may catch up with demand.
3. Ring 17 years to blend whiskey
Hibiki 17 Years Old Blended Whisky
Ring 17 is the brand's first wine, released in 1989. It is made from over 30 long-aged malts and grains aged more than 17 years. Caramel milk with sweet floral and fruity aromas, soft and full-bodied, with a balanced, clear and layered taste.
Of the many vintages that rang out, 17 years was particularly difficult to buy. Because 17 years, although not the oldest of all years, is the first to enter the market, the value of the commemorative collection is far greater than the value of its taste itself. Once selected by whisky guru Ian Buxton as one of the "101 Whiskies of a Lifetime", the selection of whiskies is subject to classic, availability and moderate price. Obviously, the wine is not very available (difficult to buy) and the price is very expensive, but it can still be seen in its position and influence in the whisky industry.
In May 2018, Suntory announced that from September 2018, Ringing will gradually be removed from the product sales catalog in Japan for 17 years. Three people into a tiger, the deliberate guidance of the media, so that many people mistakenly think that the ring 17 years will be discontinued, the price soared to 3000+ overnight, and in April 2017, the ring 17 year market price just broke through the thousand yuan mark. Later, Suntory came out to refute the rumors, but only stopped selling in Japan, which would not affect the supply of China.
4. Ring 21 years to reconcile whisky
Hibiki 21 Years Old Blended Whisky
This wine has won the WWA Competition every year since 2009 and is the most WWA Whisky winner of the "World's Best Blended Whisky" title. It also received a 96 super high score from Whisky Bible 2014, which is the core of the brand. Aged in Bourbon, Sherry and Water Bottles, it combines more than 30 varieties of original wines for an elegant, serene and far-reaching taste.
5. Ring 30 years to blend whisky
Hibiki 30 Years Old Blended Whisky
Introduced in 1997, this wine is made from original sake from Yamazaki and Shirashu Distillation, which is more than 30 years old in North American white oak barrels, and grain whiskies over 30 years old at Chita Distillation. All production processes are carried out by hand, with only a few thousand bottles produced each year, numbered. The design of the bottle is also more elaborate, with 30 facets presented on the crystal bottle to represent the 30 years of the original wine in oak barrels, and the Echizen washi paper inserted with gold leaf as the label. The wine was also selected for Ian Baston's "101 Whiskies of a Lifetime" collection.
6. Ring 35 years to blend whiskey
Hibiki 35 Years Old Blended Whisky
Ring 35 years of status is like Yamazaki 50 years, launched as a limited edition, only more than 100 bottles at a time, basically only seen at auction houses. The wines are blended with original wines aged 35 to 46 years and are served in specially designed ceramic bottles.
In addition to the above wines, There are many special editions, including:
Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master's Select, specially released in 2015 at global travel duty-free shops, contains more than 10 original liquors, aged in 5 oak barrels, including American white oak barrels, sherry barrels and Japanese water bottles, which skillfully blend oaks from all over the world, especially with shirley flavors.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony Limited Edition Design, a limited edition launched in November 2018 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the "Ring" brand. The recipe for the wine in the bottle is not much different, but the packaging of the bottle body has been redesigned. Inspired by traditional kimono motifs, the bottle body is specially designed to symbolize the celebration of the traditional Japanese symbol , tabane-noshi gift knot pattern. Since ancient times, Japan has had the custom of decorating ceremonial ropes on precious gifts, and multiple ceremonial ropes are tied together to form a "Tabane-noshi" gift knot, which means auspicious Terry and is a symbol of conveying happiness and sharing happiness with others.
Hibiki Blender's Choice, with an average original wine vintage of 15 years, using some original wines over 30 years. Although the average age of the original wine is 15 years, there will be less than 15 years old original wine, which is a vintageless whisky, the price is slightly lower than the ring 17, but the price is definitely higher than other no-vintages. Interestingly, the wine has also been aged in barrels, bringing more sweetness and layering.
Hibiki 17 Kacho Fugetsu, kacho Fugetsu in Japanese means flowers, birds, wind and moon, this package is to convey the natural beauty of Japan. Released in 2016 with a circulation of no more than 1,000 bottles.
Hibiki 17 Mount Fuji, suntory released this wine to commemorate the addition of Mt. Fuji, Japan's highest peak, to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2013.
Ring 21 Year Porcelain Bottle Limited Edition, since 2001 Suntory has launched a limited edition Ring 21 Year Whisky every year, which is served in handmade Arita Yaki or Kutani yaki ceramic bottles to pay tribute to Japanese ceramic culture. Arita ware is arguably Japan's most iconic porcelain, the bottle is soft white, and then painted with blue or red on the top of the colorful pattern, as if depicting a watercolor painting on pure white paper. In comparison, the paintings of Jiugu Ware are more gorgeous, and the glaze colors are mainly red, green, purple, yellow and blue, and the painted composition styles are diverse.
Hibiki 21 Kacho Fugetsu, a classic 24-cut version, was originally only released in Japan.
The Hibiki 21 Mount Fuji edition includes the first edition, available only in Japan, with a limited edition of 2,000 bottles, and a second edition, the duty-free shop version, which is also limited to 2,000 bottles.
Hibiki 30 Kacho Fugetsu, a special edition for Travel Retail in 2015.
Note: Not all special editions are listed above.