Prices
- The Whisky Station · 700ml
Usually $1,399.00$1,022.00In stockLowest priceView at The Whisky Station - Uptown Liquor · 700ml
Usually $1,499.99$1,199.99In stockView at Uptown Liquor - Old Richmond Cellars · 700ml
Usually $1,500.00$1,350.00In stockView at Old Richmond Cellars - Nick's Wine Merchants · 700ml
Usually $1,999.00$1,499.00In stockView at Nick's Wine Merchants - Bottle Stop · 700ml, Each$1,499.99In stockView at Bottle Stop
- Barrel & Batch · 700ml, Each - Marrickville$1,499.99In stockView at Barrel & Batch
- Paul's Liquor · 700ml$1,589.99In stockView at Paul's Liquor
- Dan Murphy's · 700ml$2,009.99In stock
Online delivery to Sydney 2000
View at Dan Murphy's - The Whisky Company · 700ml$499.00Sold outView at The Whisky Company
- The Drink Society · 700ml
Usually $1,499.99$1,049.99Sold outView at The Drink Society - Kent Street Cellars · 700ml
Usually $1,499.99$1,399.99No longer listedView at Kent Street Cellars
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Suntory whiskies and prices
About
What it is
The 18 year old single malt from Hakushu, Suntory's mountain distillery in the Southern Japanese Alps. Bottled at 43%. It sits above the 12 and below the 25 in the core range, and it's been in short supply for most of the last decade.
Where it comes from
Suntory confirms that all exported Suntory whisky is 100% distilled, matured and bottled in Japan, and names Hakushu single malt as compliant with the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association labelling standard. No imported whisky. In a category where plenty of bottles saying Japanese on the label don't meet that standard, having the producer state it is the point.
How it's made
Hakushu was built in 1973 at around 700 metres, chosen to make something unlike Yamazaki. The cool air slows maturation. A second still house went in during 1981, and the distillery runs pot stills of different shapes and sizes, giving blenders a wide spread of distillate. Hakushu uses both lightly and heavily peated malt in its make, which is where the smoke comes from. The exact cask recipe for the 18 isn't published, though the range is built on American oak, Spanish oak and Japanese mizunara.
What to expect
The Hakushu house style with weight behind it. Green apple, cut grass and herbs, then something riper and more honeyed from the extra years, with a smoke that stays in the background rather than taking over. It's fresher than an 18 year old malt has any right to be, and that's the reason people chase it.
How it compares
Against Hakushu 12 you get more depth and a longer finish for a lot more money, and the character is the same. Against Yamazaki 18 it's the classic Suntory split: Hakushu green and gently smoky, Yamazaki fruity and sherried. Not to be confused with Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt, the 100th Anniversary release bottled at 48%, which is a genuinely different make.
