Oct 18, 2019, 5:22 pm
Last edit by: armagebedar
This thread is about where to find whiskey in Japan. Extended discussion about where to find Japanese whiskey elsewhere is off topic and will be removed.
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Consolidated "Buy Whiskey in Japan" thread (was: Haneda/Narita Duty Free Whiskey)
Mar 11, 2015, 6:47 am
#31
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Flew ex-HND today just a quick update.
They were out of a ton of things (pretty much every single Yamazaki and Hakushu with the exception of NAS "The Yamazaki Single Malt."
They were also out of the Hibiki 17 (which is what I wanted) at 8000Yen however they had the limited edition Hibiki 17 (as far as I can tell the only difference was the custom bottle) for 11000Yen which I bought (with the exchange rate that comes to ~$90 which is still a steal vs. $150 before shipping and tax from various sources in the US).
They also had Hibiki 21 at 16500 Yen which I also grabbed since the premium over the limited edition 17 seemed small and worth it vs. getting 2 limited edition 17s.
They were out of a ton of things (pretty much every single Yamazaki and Hakushu with the exception of NAS "The Yamazaki Single Malt."
They were also out of the Hibiki 17 (which is what I wanted) at 8000Yen however they had the limited edition Hibiki 17 (as far as I can tell the only difference was the custom bottle) for 11000Yen which I bought (with the exchange rate that comes to ~$90 which is still a steal vs. $150 before shipping and tax from various sources in the US).
They also had Hibiki 21 at 16500 Yen which I also grabbed since the premium over the limited edition 17 seemed small and worth it vs. getting 2 limited edition 17s.
Mar 11, 2015, 7:15 am
#32
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
Programs: FT
Posts: 7,285
Flew ex-HND today just a quick update.
They were out of a ton of things (pretty much every single Yamazaki and Hakushu with the exception of NAS "The Yamazaki Single Malt."
They were also out of the Hibiki 17 (which is what I wanted) at 8000Yen however they had the limited edition Hibiki 17 (as far as I can tell the only difference was the custom bottle) for 11000Yen which I bought (with the exchange rate that comes to ~$90 which is still a steal vs. $150 before shipping and tax from various sources in the US).
They also had Hibiki 21 at 16500 Yen which I also grabbed since the premium over the limited edition 17 seemed small and worth it vs. getting 2 limited edition 17s.
They were out of a ton of things (pretty much every single Yamazaki and Hakushu with the exception of NAS "The Yamazaki Single Malt."
They were also out of the Hibiki 17 (which is what I wanted) at 8000Yen however they had the limited edition Hibiki 17 (as far as I can tell the only difference was the custom bottle) for 11000Yen which I bought (with the exchange rate that comes to ~$90 which is still a steal vs. $150 before shipping and tax from various sources in the US).
They also had Hibiki 21 at 16500 Yen which I also grabbed since the premium over the limited edition 17 seemed small and worth it vs. getting 2 limited edition 17s.
Mar 15, 2015, 7:16 am
#33
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Ended up getting the new Nikka 12yo from Yamaya (about 800 Yen cheaper than department stores) to supplement the Hibiki's though I was hoping to find the Puncheon or Bourbon Barrel Yamazaki and didn't see those anywhere.
Mar 23, 2015, 5:51 pm
#34
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I flew through NRT last week and the Duty Free shops on the JAL side of the airport were sold out of Hibiki 21, 17 and 12. There were three bottles of Hibiki 17 in the fancy bottle. After I left, there were two. 
One of the people at the shop told me that after March, there would be no more Hibiki sold at Duty Free. Take that with a grain of salt.
One of the people at the shop told me that after March, there would be no more Hibiki sold at Duty Free. Take that with a grain of salt.
Apr 9, 2015, 6:45 pm
#35
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: BOS, Latin America
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Duty Free Japanese Whisky at NRT
This might not be the place for this post, in which case moderators can move it, but want to give a heads up to whisky fans transiting NRT that Suntory has MASSIVELY repriced it's duty free whisky. The $35 bottle of 12 year Hibiki I used to buy is now $80. Same stuff inside with a "duty free limited edition" bottle.
Total hogwash and regret not buying a bottle of whisky when I was in Tokyo all week at the old $35 plus consumption tax. But at least I hope others won't make the same mistake.
Total hogwash and regret not buying a bottle of whisky when I was in Tokyo all week at the old $35 plus consumption tax. But at least I hope others won't make the same mistake.
Apr 10, 2015, 12:42 am
#36
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Blame the chinese for buying out all the stock since december
Originally Posted by Ceasy
This might not be the place for this post, in which case moderators can move it, but want to give a heads up to whisky fans transiting NRT that Suntory has MASSIVELY repriced it's duty free whisky. The $35 bottle of 12 year Hibiki I used to buy is now $80. Same stuff inside with a "duty free limited edition" bottle.
Total hogwash and regret not buying a bottle of whisky when I was in Tokyo all week at the old $35 plus consumption tax. But at least I hope others won't make the same mistake.
Total hogwash and regret not buying a bottle of whisky when I was in Tokyo all week at the old $35 plus consumption tax. But at least I hope others won't make the same mistake.
Apr 10, 2015, 6:11 am
#38
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: FB Plat; BAEC Gold
Posts: 930
You would never of guessed it was overpriced judging by the queues when I passed through last week. Never seen duty free so busy at 8am.
Decided to give it all a miss and head straight for the lounge.
Decided to give it all a miss and head straight for the lounge.
Apr 10, 2015, 6:24 am
#39
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
Programs: FT
Posts: 7,285
This might not be the place for this post, in which case moderators can move it, but want to give a heads up to whisky fans transiting NRT that Suntory has MASSIVELY repriced it's duty free whisky. The $35 bottle of 12 year Hibiki I used to buy is now $80. Same stuff inside with a "duty free limited edition" bottle.
Total hogwash and regret not buying a bottle of whisky when I was in Tokyo all week at the old $35 plus consumption tax. But at least I hope others won't make the same mistake.
Total hogwash and regret not buying a bottle of whisky when I was in Tokyo all week at the old $35 plus consumption tax. But at least I hope others won't make the same mistake.
sure, i remember buying bottles of lagavulin in the mid 90s at LHR for US$40 bucks also.
perhaps this will explain why.
http://www.japanese-whisky.com/about...panese-harmony
[BTW, as i posted above, you can buy it for US$64 at astor in the US.]
Last edited by mkjr; Apr 10, 2015 at 7:03 am
Apr 10, 2015, 9:45 am
#40
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1
Update on Hibiki in Tokyo
Not quite at HND/NRT or duty-free, but when researching places to buy in Tokyo for my dad, I kept stumbling across recommendations for this place in Tokyo Station:
www.liquors-hasegawa.com
Easy enough to stop in if you're taking the N'EX to NRT.
www.liquors-hasegawa.com
Easy enough to stop in if you're taking the N'EX to NRT.
Just spent the last few days searching for hibiki 17 in Tokyo in anticipation the airport duty free would not have any. For the record, I visited the Yamazaki distillery in kyoto this trip and even they didn't have any hibiki 17 available to sell in the gift shop, because of such high demand.
After many disappointing runs at the liquor stores, super markets and department stores in the last few days, here are the only successes we found.
Takashimaya: good abundance of Japanese whiskey on the shelf including many different nikka varieties. Hibiki 17 sells for ¥12,960 a bottle.
Liquors Hasagawa: went to several of their locations in Tokyo station to come up empty, however randomly came across the real liquor store in the station located across from Anclar Tapas near the street exit. Here they had everything including Hibiki 17 for ¥12,600.
Shocking how scarce it's become but still a great deal to buy in Tokyo and bring home. I saw Hibiki 17 going for $270 in NYC last month, so ~$100 is an exceptional deal for the smoothness found in Hibiki 17. Good luck fellow travelers.
Apr 11, 2015, 8:04 am
#41
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
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Just spent the last few days searching for hibiki 17 in Tokyo in anticipation the airport duty free would not have any. For the record, I visited the Yamazaki distillery in kyoto this trip and even they didn't have any hibiki 17 available to sell in the gift shop, because of such high demand.
After many disappointing runs at the liquor stores, super markets and department stores in the last few days, here are the only successes we found.
Takashimaya: good abundance of Japanese whiskey on the shelf including many different nikka varieties. Hibiki 17 sells for ¥12,960 a bottle.
Liquors Hasagawa: went to several of their locations in Tokyo station to come up empty, however randomly came across the real liquor store in the station located across from Anclar Tapas near the street exit. Here they had everything including Hibiki 17 for ¥12,600.
Shocking how scarce it's become but still a great deal to buy in Tokyo and bring home. I saw Hibiki 17 going for $270 in NYC last month, so ~$100 is an exceptional deal for the smoothness found in Hibiki 17. Good luck fellow travelers.
After many disappointing runs at the liquor stores, super markets and department stores in the last few days, here are the only successes we found.
Takashimaya: good abundance of Japanese whiskey on the shelf including many different nikka varieties. Hibiki 17 sells for ¥12,960 a bottle.
Liquors Hasagawa: went to several of their locations in Tokyo station to come up empty, however randomly came across the real liquor store in the station located across from Anclar Tapas near the street exit. Here they had everything including Hibiki 17 for ¥12,600.
Shocking how scarce it's become but still a great deal to buy in Tokyo and bring home. I saw Hibiki 17 going for $270 in NYC last month, so ~$100 is an exceptional deal for the smoothness found in Hibiki 17. Good luck fellow travelers.
Apr 16, 2015, 10:17 pm
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
Just spent the last few days searching for hibiki 17 in Tokyo in anticipation the airport duty free would not have any. For the record, I visited the Yamazaki distillery in kyoto this trip and even they didn't have any hibiki 17 available to sell in the gift shop, because of such high demand.
After many disappointing runs at the liquor stores, super markets and department stores in the last few days, here are the only successes we found.
Takashimaya: good abundance of Japanese whiskey on the shelf including many different nikka varieties. Hibiki 17 sells for ¥12,960 a bottle.
Liquors Hasagawa: went to several of their locations in Tokyo station to come up empty, however randomly came across the real liquor store in the station located across from Anclar Tapas near the street exit. Here they had everything including Hibiki 17 for ¥12,600.
Shocking how scarce it's become but still a great deal to buy in Tokyo and bring home. I saw Hibiki 17 going for $270 in NYC last month, so ~$100 is an exceptional deal for the smoothness found in Hibiki 17. Good luck fellow travelers.
After many disappointing runs at the liquor stores, super markets and department stores in the last few days, here are the only successes we found.
Takashimaya: good abundance of Japanese whiskey on the shelf including many different nikka varieties. Hibiki 17 sells for ¥12,960 a bottle.
Liquors Hasagawa: went to several of their locations in Tokyo station to come up empty, however randomly came across the real liquor store in the station located across from Anclar Tapas near the street exit. Here they had everything including Hibiki 17 for ¥12,600.
Shocking how scarce it's become but still a great deal to buy in Tokyo and bring home. I saw Hibiki 17 going for $270 in NYC last month, so ~$100 is an exceptional deal for the smoothness found in Hibiki 17. Good luck fellow travelers.