Hi guys,
Dan Murphy's have back in stock
Hibiki 12 year $209 + delivery
Yamazaki 12 year $199 + delivery limited 3 per purchase
both these Japanese whiskeys are getting hard to find, not sure how long and how much stock they considering Suntory have discountinued the Hibiki 12 year. Suntory are leaning towards NAS whiskeys (non age stamp) and a lot of others are doing so to.
Yeah my old man was in Japan earlier this year and saw an Yamazaki 18YO, worked out to be about $160AUD.
I stupidly told him to look for "JUST" 12YO… He wasn't able to find any 12YO and passed on the 18YO as I said "JUST" cries
I'm sure your old man did the wrong calculation.
I purchased one from Bic Cam Sep-15 which cost me around 25000 Yen approx $290 AUD at that time.
I can't believe the price will drop to $160 AUD. for Yamazaki 18
Yeah. Around $300 when I was there in August if anywhere had it in stock.
@rob74: Thanks guys, I've been crying myself to sleep and having nightmares about what I thought was a missed opportunity. Now I can sleep well tonight lol =P
I agree, I wondered if it was the same bottles, I can't believe the mark-up here. I bought 6 bottles of scotch (Hibiki amongst others) leaving Tokyo, all as you say about $40 including 2 bottles of Jap XO brandy (ie non-french cognac), total price $220
Agree, I bought about $500 aud worth of whiskey for just over $100 in Japan. Nice whiskeys too
Nope, definitely a 12yo, here's a pic my my $40 12yo Hibiki from Duty Free at Tokyo airport
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10994332/hibiki12yo.png
@womble:thats a 2014 article…. suntory was alot cheaper back then.
your other image u posted doesnt show the price just a pic of a bottle… doesnt prove anything
@tkboi: Huh? The question was doubt that it's the "12yo", not the price.
Anyway, what's with the combative attitude. I've got nothing to prove. I really don't mind if you want to pay the Australian price for Japanese scotch, go for it. I however suggest where possible sourcing in Japan where it's remarkably cheaper.
sorry didnt meant to sound combatitive but been following suntory for awhile now and even whilst i was in japan it was nowhere near that price of 40aud.. for a 12yr hibiki. thats me travelling to japan couple of months ago
@tkboi: No worries. One explanation for just a 15% or so change, when I went early 2015: ~100yen:$1, now it's 84yen:$1
Also that photo was taken literally 20 minutes ago of an open bottle from my shelf just to show that it was real (hence no price!)
FWIW, similar to yourself, I found Hibiki and Yamazaki NAS at Bic Camera duty free in Shinjuku in May for around the same price as mentioned by OP, as I couldn't find any 12 yo.
yep same here only found hibiki NAS now. hard to find 12 yr olds or any older now days.
No, definitely the 12 years. I still have the bottles.
not a chance you could get hibiki 12 or yamazaki 12 for $40
let alone teh cheap ones,
I have a better chance winning lotto,
hibiki 12 or yamazaki 12, most of the shops have sold out, the odd few that have them, the retail price is around 8000to 9500 yen, so $100 to $115 per bottle without any taxes, the retail shops have upped their prices a little bit but not ridiculously, so if you brought it back with you, thats all you pay, if you ship it to aus, then you have to pay for shipping and taxes,
yamazaki 18, your looking at anywhere between 32000 to 35000 yen if you get luck, some shops want almost 40000 yen,
hibiki 17 around the the 13000yen to 17000 yen,
hibiki 21 27000-32000 yen
hibiki 30 has become more avaiable
hibiki 35 has become more avaialable
Yep I was just trawling through my phone pics from my Japan trip last year and here's a snap of a small Yamazaki range I took from a bottle shop in one of the shopping centers in Tokyo I passed through.
I'm still beating myself up that I didn't grab it and insisted to wait until the end of the trip and get it at the Nirita Airport, only to find out that the duty free shops didn't carry this whiskey nor did they facilitate security bags for carrying non checked-in alcohol =(
Pic was taken on 19/08/2015…
http://oi65.tinypic.com/25i6bt4.jpg
Also notice the limit per person sign as well… And this is in Japan lol.
I've only ever tried Yamazaki 12YO in the very small novelty bottles they sold in the stores in Japan (about 1 oz or thereabouts). Really enjoyed it!
I actually bit the bullet and grabbed one of these Dan Murphy's Yamazaki 12 for $199 (minus $10 Cashrewards). Given that my old man wasn't able to find any 12YO's on his recent Japan trip back in July'ish this year, and also many comments in this thread indicating they are getting harder and harder to find (even in Japan), thought I'd treat myself a little for Chrissy =D
I should point out that this was 2 years ago that I bought them for that price in Japan.
I'm a huge whisky collector and they are pretty much sold out in retail shops. But if you go to alcohol specialists and auction houses they are fairly available with only a small premium
I managed to get a case of hibikj 12 and 17 which I'll be bringing back slowly
But yeah it's super hard to find
What surprised me was that 350ml and 50ml bottles of Yamazaki 18 and hibikj 21s are selling for almost the same price as the full bottles due to scarcity
@dogboy: Ah well that explains it! Things have changed very much since then. Savor your 12yo Jap whiskey - it's not very affordable any more, even in Japan!!!
Having said that, I've read that the NAS bottles are still very good. I haven't opened mine yet - I tend to drink cheap Aldi wine most of the time LOL! :D
@smokenmirraz: Haha.. yessss! :D I have even been known to get a case of Get Out of Jail from time to time!
Very helpful info, thank you
2 years ago my 18yo hibiki was 160 AUD thought i do prefer single malts like Laphroaig
Wouldn't have been the 12yo, i was in Japan last month and it was 8500yen + tax (8%), which is around the $100-110AUD mark. This was from Shinonuya, a renowned spot for getting great prices.
Damn where's the AMEX Dan Murphy's statement credit offers when you need it!
Would love to grab one of the Yamazaki 12's, but $199 is making me 50/50… Not really a bargain, but the rarity of being able to grab locally =(
Someone help me decide!
Its not good value though….save the money and head out to japan!
I'm looking forward to a distillery tour next year.
Includes tastings for ¥1000 - near Tokyo (HAKUSHU Distiller's reserve", Hakushu unblended whisky) & Osaka (Yamazaki single malt whisky).
Book in advance!! We tried booking one month in advance for the distillery tour and they said it was full (all days that week)!
Yamazaki tour was great, as said below book as soon as you can, usually 3 months in advance.
@Qmar:
A popular destination for Japanese on tour buses🗻 I'm regularly in Japan for about a month, so should be easy to fit it in.
Currently only 1 day booked out in Jan-Feb at Hakuyshu distillery near Tokyo.
Will visit more popular Yamazaki (Osaka) distillery another trip - half booked out Jan-Feb.
Online bookings up to 3 months ahead, currently Dec-Jan-Feb.
@Infidel: We went to the Osaka distillery. Definitely worth the trip. Also, we saw a few bottles of 12yo in the distillery. 500ml for 80aud or so back in June, not the usual volume. Not sure if thats their final stock or they have more. We were quite lucky as we were there during the yamazaki limited edition release. got one for about 120 aud.
This was the same price last week, why is it a bargain?
Not necessarily a bargain but more of a heads-up I'd guess, since the Japanese Whisky's have been making waves/winning awards for a few years and have become hard to find as a result. So them resurfacing again just before Christmas is helpful for those who've been trying to track them down all year. ;)
Not necessarily a bargain but more of a heads-up I'd guess
Should post on OzHeadsUp then…
I can see where you're coming from but keep in mind that it's out of stock or sells out quickly and is more expensive at most other competitors (ie. bargain)
http://i.imgur.com/0BuKJRS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/eggXQna.jpg
They have heaps of stock at all stores. No shortage at dm's.
I haven't seen stock of the Hibiki 12 year at DM's online for months.
Where you see them?
For sale on dm website.
Wrong
Nope the 12yos have been out of stock for 12+ months
https://www.firstchoiceliquor.com.au/Spirits/hibiki-12yo-whi…
Hibiki 12 cheaper and currently available at first choice too
Beat me to it! In fact, for anyone who still has Amex, you can get $30 off as well!
I cant check out says yamazaki and hiniki oos at first choice
Sold out for a long time at FC - confirmed with Penny via online chat
DMs may have Suntory whiskys available but they aren't a bargain!
good selection of Japanese whiskey from http://www.thanksmart.com.au/alcoholic-drinks/whiskey-?Page=…
Limited stock but Yamazaki 12yo is $180 at BWS
https://bws.com.au/product/903363/yamazaki-12-year-old-whisk…
Lol . If u want to mix with coke use chivas regal not $200 jdm whisky.
I bought both of these in Japan recently for about AU$40 each. Australian import taxes are so bloody ridiculous! They were my 2 favourite Japanese whiskeys, I especially liked the Yamazaki.