mkjr

comparable to what is was here at the LCBO for CAD$216. I managed to get a few bottles at TPE. no discount codes on EVA when I was flying but I recall it was close to US$100....

decent price at Bevmo for the 12. As noted, I only saw yamazaki 12s in minis in Japan.

tng11

Found a shop in Ueno under the JR tracks that had Hibiki 21.

They were asking, wait for it...

37,900 JPY!!!

And 17,900 JPY for Hibiki 17 when multiple Donki locations were selling at 11,900 with good stock.

Jigen666

Sheesh! That's expensive.

Edit: sorry, I thought you were talking about The TK 17. Not the Hibiki. That's a good price.

I found a Hibiki 21 outside of Tokyo for 24,000.

exerda

Actually saw a Hakushu 12 today (vs. the NAS stuff everyone is carrying). It was ~9400 yen. Debating going back and grabbing one while it's still there. Been a while since I have bought Hakushu, so I am not sure if that's a decent price or not; the other items they carried were typical to slightly high (e.g. Hibiki Harmony for ~6000 yen; I've seen it under 5000 in Tokyo).

Jigen666

Hakushu 12 sells around 69 USD here in the states. It's not as popular as Yamazaki, so it's more readily available. Sometimes a little more. So the price in Japan is actually higher. The 18 though is cheaper in Japan than the US. I've bought it there for 24,000 yen, while seen it here for 350 USD or more.

exerda

Good to know. I haven't seen it in the US in a while, and my bottle came from NRT before the big craze took off. This one was at the Keio just outside Shinjuku Station.

Going to Miyagikyo tomorrow, so I hope being that far outside Tokyo they will have some interesting stuff like an age statement Coffee Grain.

exerda

He still has about 1/3 of a bottle of the 25. It was very, very good... but not at all what I expected. It drank like a bourbon--very sweet, very grainy IMHO. I also tried the 17 and have a bottle of the 18 at home, and the difference between the younger ones and the 25 is almost shocking.

beardedmeerkat

Costco sells Hakushu 12 for $68.99 and Hakushu 18 for $159.99 (might have been $189...but I haven't seen it since Jan 2016). Hakushu 12 is really easy to find.

Hakushu 12 at other stores sell around $80 - $90
Hakushu 18 at other stores sell it for $250 - $300 range and above

mkjr

My hat goes off to the costco buyer. Impressive to get this stuff.

exerda

Indeed! I saw that NRT duty free today had the Hakushu 18 ... for roughly double what the Costco price was. Now, I'm used to the "special edition" markups at the NRT & HND duty free shops, but that was just insane.

I also saw the Hibiki 17 was up to 20000 (from the 16000 it was last year when I picked a bottle up). Same design, so I passed this time. Now, start rotating through new art every 6 months to a year, and I would be tempted to splurge just for the novelty of new bottle art.

NeTWorKz

Completely agree! Very impressed of the SF Costco buyer.

Does Costco SF have anything good now? The last "good" thing they had was Hakushu 12/18yo if I remember.

beardedmeerkat

I didn't see anything on Satuday

OWHKG2016

I will be at KIX, ITM and NRT next month. Does anyone know if I could find Yamazaki 25 or hibiki 30 at any of these airports, or is there any store in Osaka/Tokyo that you'd recommend? Seems NRT used to have yamazaki 25 but not sure if they still have it.

Thank you!

Jigen666

It's very hit and miss with Duty Free shops in NRT. Sometimes they get it in, sometimes they don't, it's up to the supplier. It also depends when you go to the airport to depart. Even if they do get some in on the day you depart, if your flight is in the afternoon or late evening, you'll probably be SOL, because a bunch of other travelers with deep pockets will have picked it up. If you are departing from NRT, and will be in Tokyo for any length of time of more than 1 day, go to the Duty Free shop in Mitsukoshi, in the Ginza (8th Floor). If they have the Yamazaki 25 available at the NRT airport duty free shop, they'll sell it to you there and you can pick it up at Narita on the way home. Just make sure to bring your passport and a print out of your flight itinerary to qualify to use it. If they don't have it, the only way to get it is by spending a lot more Yen at overpriced stores like Liquors Hasegawa.

But if you're going to Osaka, I'd suggest you go to the Yamazaki distillery, which isn't that far away. You won't be able to buy a 25 there, but they do offer whisky tastings of the 25 there (if they have any available).

Have fun.

You could try the W. Shop in Osaka (That's Suntory's official shop there).

danam

I've never seen the Yamazaki 25 for sale at the W Shop, but they do usually have a bottle available for tastings. There is of course a cost and you're limited to 3 tastings.

It is a special drink for sure, a shame that the price is far beyond what I would be willing to pay these days!