Hibiki Harmony Master’s Select is a duty-free (aka “global travel retail”) special release of Hibiki Harmony blended whisky. Unlike some Japanese special-edition “travel exclusives” – which are simply re-labelled and marked-up versions of standard bottlings – Master’s Select is actually a different blend than the regular Harmony.
Master’s Select is reported to be a blend of 10 different Japanese malt and grain whiskies from Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita distilleries, aged in 5 different types of casks, including American white oak casks, sherry casks and Mizunara oak casks. The stronger woody character – and use of Yamazaki sherry casks in particular – are emphasized in Suntory promotional materials, in an apparent effort to increase the cachet of Hibiki Master’s Select. As with regular Harmony, there is no age statement, and it is bottled at 43% ABV.
I bought a bottle in early 2016, but only opened it recently. I paid a little over $100 CAD at the time (on sale), which was about the same price as regular Harmony here in Canada. I have always been a big fan of the older Hibiki age-statement expressions (especially the Hibiki 17yo), and am relatively positive on the no-age-statement Harmony expression – although it doesn’t fare as well among most reviewers. So I was curious to see how this Master’s Select version of Harmony would compare.
Here are how the Hibiki whiskies compare to other entry-level Japanese whiskies in my Metacritic Databae:
Hibiki 12yo: 8.61 ± 0.25 on 21 reviews ($$$$) Hibiki 17yo: 8.77 ± 0.32 on 16 reviews ($$$$$) Hibiki Harmony: 8.36 ± 0.54 on 18 reviews ($$$$) Hibiki Harmony Master’s Select: 8.19 ± 0.74 on 5 reviews ($$$$$) Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries: 8.64 ± 0.23 on 8 reviews ($$$$$) Ichiro’s Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve (MWR): 8.20 ± 0.46 on 10 reviews ($$$$$) Mars Iwai Tradition: 7.69 ± 1.03 on 4 reviews ($$$$) Mars Maltage Cosmo: 8.56 ± 0.27 on 4 reviews ($$$$) Nikka All Malt: 8.44 ± 0.18 on 8 reviews ($$) Nikka Coffey Grain: 8.48 ± 0.52 on 18 reviews ($$$$) Nikka Coffey Malt: 8.77 ± 0.42 on 12 reviews ($$$$) Nikka From the Barrel: 8.82 ± 0.36 on 23 reviews ($$$) Nikka Pure Malt Black: 8.78 ± 0.21 on 14 reviews ($$$) Nikka Pure Malt Red: 8.53 ± 0.33 on 9 reviews ($$$) Nikka Pure Malt White: 8.70 ± 0.32 on 13 reviews ($$$) Suntory The Chita Single Grain: 8.36 ± 0.39 on 5 reviews ($$$) Suntory Toki: 8.24 ± 0.45 on 10 reviews ($$$) White Oak Akashi Blended: 7.60 ± 0.67 on 8 reviews ($$$) White Oak Akashi Single Malt (NAS): 7.94 ± 0.49 on 7 reviews ($$$$)
Let’s see what I find in the glass:
Nose: Similar to regular Harmony, but with more dry oakiness up front. Not particularly fruity, but I do get light pears, plums, bananas and orange rind (plus some lemon curd). Floral, with some sort of fruit blossom. Lots of vanilla, as before – perhaps even more so. Toasted coconut, which is new. Wood spice. A slightly funky note, vaguely vegetal, which I don’t recall on standard Harmony. Definitely a bit more character here, but not all of it good. Also more acetone, which detracts for me.
Palate: Similar opening waves of vanilla and honey, with the arrival of prominent caramel now. Stronger orange citrus taste now than before. Dark chocolate (with that classic bitterness). Cinnamon and nutmeg. Something vaguely earthy, but I can’t quite place it (ginger? not quite). Simply put, it seems like a more heavily-oaked version of Harmony, especially with that lingering bitterness – which builds on each sip, unfortunately. Less of the delicate perfumy/incense notes than the regular Harmony (but they may be drowned out by the earthy wood tones). Decent mouthfeel, slightly silky in texture.
Finish: Short, but longer than regular Harmony. Nutmeg. Bitter apple. That ginger-like note from the palate is prominent, with a vague wet cardboard note. The oaky bitterness lingers the longest – rather unpleasant, frankly. Again, the complexity is up a bit, but this is the most disappointing part of the experience.
This “master’s select” version of the NAS Hibiki is no match for the age statement versions of old. It lacks the traditional subtlety of Hibiki, and seems to have gone for a flavour-shortcut, by exposing a younger blend to heavier wood influence.
If you like an earthy, oaky structure in your whisky (i.e. virgin wood), then this might be a blend for you. But for most casual whisky drinkers, I expect standard Harmony would be preferred. For me, some of the more delicate characteristics of Harmony are lost here, and too much oaky bitterness has been added.
There are few reviews of this whisky, but Dramtastic gave it a positive review with an average score (compared to a very low score for standard Harmony). On Reddit, _xile also gave it an average score (and greatly preferred it over standard Harmony). Josh the Whiskey Jug get it a slightly lower assessment than Harmony, and muaddib99 of Reddit gave it a much lower score than standard Harmony.
I’m in this latter camp, and give this a lower score than Harmony. That said, I think the Meta-Critic average scores are a little low for both NAS Hibiki expressions. In choosing between them, it really comes done to how much you like a woody presence in your whisky. But I recommend you start with standard Harmony – or the age-statement versions of course, if you can find them.
