Topcare

There is no strategy. Show up and check and expect nothing.

invalyd

This is the correct answer. Not sure why people strategize around duty free bottles. If they happen to be in stock when you're flying out then buy one. I can tell you after 20x visits there is no science to it. They might stock at open, they might stock in the afternoon, they might have bottles in the back and tell you they're sold out. Enjoy your trip.

vindor

Most liquor stores will deliver to your hotel and packages usually show up exactly when they say they will. Try Wine-Searcher.com, specify Japan in the filter and search for your whiskey. Not every shop will show up but most decent sized ones do and there’s always something available. I use Google chrome which does a good job of translating and getting you through the ordering process. If not all translated, try Google translate camera feature on the screen.

invalyd

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Of course, any whisky can be delivered to your hotel. Just depends how much you want to pay. Bu in case you haven't gathered, most people on this thread are not looking for NAS crap that sits on the shelf and no liqour shop will be delivering anything allocated to you for retail price.

vindor

You may have had that experience but I've had good luck in many, many transactions. Actually just bought a Hibiki 21 yr from a shop called Syurui for $625 last week and being delivered to my hotel in Tokyo next Wednesday. Was limited to one bottle but can certainly order again at some point. I've done dozens of transactions with them and many others over the years. I still check duty free every time though.

invalyd

$625 (Ą90,000) is not retail price nor is it a great deal. You can purchase Hibiki 21 by the case full at that price in Japan online.

vg247

Can you provide some legitimate website where these prices can be found?

invalyd

Search for 響21 on Yahoo auction
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invalyd

MSRP of Hibiki 21 in Japan is Ą32,000, for anyone wondering.

JapanFlyerT

定価 is the kanji for retail price, though you won't find Suntory selling for that anywhere except the distilleries (only NAS, or perhaps Yamazaki 12yr in a gift set, however even those have been suspended of late).

Even Harmony (NAS), which is pretty easy to find in town, is now selling for Ą10,000 or more despite the retail of Ą5,500. That you probably can get at close to retail in the airports.

https://products.suntory.co.jp/d/4901777040427/

https://products.suntory.co.jp/b/0000000114/index.html

vg247

Thank you both - we will be in Tokyo 12/19-12/30 , are there some sellers you would recommend where I can purchase the Hibiki 21, fair price is fine with me I don’t expect the cheapest or to over pay. Many thanks

Topcare

fair price. No.

Topcare

exactly. I bought a six pack of 17 before people cared at Astor in NYC. Haha. For 10,000 less. People need to really ask themselves, why and then if they can answer that, the how much becomes irrelevant.

james21_h

My local bar is selling it at Y3800 (~$26) a shot. It's less than $600 a bottle... You might as well just enjoy it at a bar here in Japan and have a good time!

vindor

Presumably your local is in Japan? I have a couple of favorite whisky bars in Tokyo I go to when I'm in town which is once or twice a month (when we're not in the middle of a pandemic) and it's great to drink all of those rare whiskies at such relatively low prices. Retail is a different animal though. Hibiki 21 at $600 in Japan may sound crazy since it was a lot closer to $200 well within the last 10 years but there are a couple of shops here in LA where I live selling it for almost $2,000 and it moves. Of course there are zip codes nearby with median household incomes at around $400k so none of this sounds expensive. Many whiskies have become simple commodities these days and prices just look stupid but keep going up anyway, just take a look at the Bourbon market. My go to whisky at home, basically an occasional weekend thing, is more like $40 but I'll open the Hibiki and it'll last me a year. Just hope the next bottle doesn't cost me 3x that next fall.