Once again Suntory is holding a "Hibiki art lounge ART OF BLENDING" event at Roppongi Hills. This year it runs May 25 4PM-May 26 2AM.
Part bar, part education, and part blatant marketing, the Hibiki art lounge allows you to get up close and personal with the blending behind a bottle of Hibiki.
There will be three main attractions:
- 220 glasses of whisky taken from the 1.2 million casks that Suntory currently owns will be lined up for nosing, each with information on the individual cask and maturity
- ten of the component whiskies that go into Hibiki itself will be available for nosing
- Hibiki Art Works, featuring some of the more artistic bottles they've done over the years
The bar will of course be serving Hibiki, and only Hibiki: 500 yen for a Hibiki Japanese Harmony served on the rocks, 1000 yen for Hibiki Blender's Choice served on the rocks, or 1300 yen for a comparison set served straight.
A "Hibiki Special Tasting Bar" will also be there, guiding ten guests at a time through a 30 minute session diving deep into four of the component whiskies. 3000 yen if you can get a spot.
2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Hibiki brand. It's since firmly positioned itself as the premium Japanese blended whisky, though in 2018 it did suffer a blow with Hibiki 17 being replaced with the NAS Hibiki Blender's Choice (see my review here).
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I’m Whiskey Richard, and I am the founder of nomunication.jp. I’ve lived in Tokyo for over a decade, and I am a certified Shochu Kikisake-shi/Shochu Sommelier (焼酎唎酒師), Cocktail Professor (カクテル検定１級), and I hold Whisky Kentei Level 3 (ウイスキー検定３級). Click here for more details about me and this site. Kampai!