A 35-year-old Hibiki presented in a porcelain decanter by Sakaida Kakiemon XIV, the fourteenth head of the Kakiemon kiln at Arita and a Living National Treasure. The edition was limited to 150 bottles.
About This Whisky
The Kakiemon style goes back to the 1640s, when the first Sakaida Kakiemon perfected overglaze enamelling on porcelain at Arita, in today's Saga Prefecture. Its colours are iron red, soft blue, blue-green and yellow, painted in asymmetric designs that leave much of the milky white body bare. Sakaida Kakiemon XIV (1934 to 2013) took the family name in 1982 and was later named a Living National Treasure. His decanter holds Hibiki blended from malt and grain whiskies of at least 35 years, and each bottle is presented in a wooden box.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Dried peach, sandalwood and incense, with honeycomb and a faint floral note.
- Palate: Silky and calm. Baked apple, sweet malt and Mizunara spice, with polished old oak underneath.
- Finish: Long and gentle, with honeyed fruit, soft spice and lingering wood.
Serving & Food
Serve neat at cellar or room temperature in a thin-walled tasting glass. Open it for a quiet occasion and pour small measures. Good companions are wagashi, a wedge of aged Gouda, or roasted pecans.
How to Enjoy
Collectors of Arita porcelain and old Hibiki, and as a formal gift where craft heritage matters.
Product Details
Producer: House of Suntory
Expression: Hibiki 35 Year Sakaida Kakiemon XIV
Style: Blended Japanese whisky
Age: 35 years old
Decanter: Arita porcelain, Kakiemon kiln
Edition Size: 150 bottles
Country: Japan
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Hibiki is the work of Suntory's blending room rather than a single distillery. When the no-age-statement Japanese Harmony was launched, the team was led by Master Blender Shingo Torii, a great-grandson of the founder, and Chief Blender Shinji Fukuyo, the fourth person to hold that role.
The bottle shape is part of the brand too: the standard Hibiki decanter has 24 facets, one for each of the 24 seasons of the old Japanese calendar. Special editions like this one swap the glass for hand-made porcelain from Japan's historic kilns.