Well, I'm glad I've managed to hoard 7 bottles of Yamazaki 18 :D

thanks for the confirmation.

if i read it correctly, they may be replacing it with some sort of duty free special version?

BTW, my co-workers wife just got back and said there is nothing left even at local stores...let alone at duty free.

Could anyone please tell me where I can buy Yoichi 20 in Tokyo. It's sold out at the duty free store and they are not sure when they will get the next stock.

you probably can't. that is probably the almost accurate answer without doing any research. good luck.

I'd agree with this. When I was in Tokyo in March I couldn't find anything older than 12 in most department stores or Yamaya.

Are there any liquor stores in Narita Town? I recognize they likely won't have anything older even the 12 and NAS are solid and much cheaper than in the US

So, if by chance one DID find a whiskey one wanted at NRT while transiting, is there a way to check your luggage while you're in the gate area? Gate check?

(Thanks, TSA, for keeping the US safe from my bottled booze in the passenger cabin...)

There are plenty of places selling Yoichi 15, Yamazaki 18 or Hibiki 17 in Tokyo -- I've seen it at grocery stores, Donki, and of course liquor stores. More esoteric stuff (like Ichiro's Malt) is hard to find anywhere.

So it sounds like even if I just wanted Yamazaki /hakushi 12, not even that is available at the duty free? Or has anyone seen it recently?

Plus one for a liquor store in Narita town. Aeon mall has some at the grocery store, but I am particularly interested in Hibiki. Whiskey in Narita Airport has all but dried up. There was a sign in Fa So La confirming that only Special Edition would be sold there as of March 2015 at more than double the regular price. 12 year is 10,000 yen.

...of course it's entirely unavailable (even the 12 year now) in the Los Angeles to Santa Barbara area.

Just saw this thread.

I was flying SIN-NRT-SFO on April 18th, and wanted to pickup some Hibiki at NRT. Everything was sold out.

I had a co-worker doing the same trip, and passed thru NRT on April 7, and they had many bottles in stock. I had him pick me up a bottle of Hibiki 17 and 21. If I remember correctly, the prices were 20,000 and 50,000 Yen.

Quite the spread! Think I'd rather have two bottles of the 17 over one of the 21, but to each their own...

True. Both bottles are impossible to get in my area (San Francisco), so I figured I'd just get them both while they were available. I'll do a side by side tasting to see how they compare.

Alright, I passed through NRT two days ago, and here are the official prices for the limited edition bottles:

Hibiki 21 - 50,000
Hibiki 17 - 20,000
Hibiki 12 - 10,000

Yamazaki 18 - 250,000
Yamazaki 25 - 500,000 (sold out everywhere)

Hakushu 25 - 250,000
Hakushu 18 - 50,000

However, I was extremely surprised to see Nikka 21 Taketsuru priced at 6,000. I'm going to pick up two bottles on my way back home at that price!

I tried the Hibiki 21 on ANA F. It had a bit of a bite to it. Not a fan.