Only a few thousand bottles a year: Hibiki 30 Year Old is blended by hand from malt and grain whiskies matured for at least three decades.

Suntory Whisky Hibiki 30 Year Old represents the pinnacle of the Hibiki blended whisky range. Suntory selects exceptionally rare malt whiskies aged for a minimum of 30 years and combines them with mature grain whiskies of the same age.

Mango, apricot and strawberry jam lead into a rich, viscous palate, powerful mature oak and a long finish reminiscent of kyara incense wood. The depth of extended maturation is balanced by the floral elegance and harmony central to the Hibiki style.

The pinnacle of a brand created in 1989

Hibiki was created in 1989 to commemorate Suntory’s 90th anniversary.

Its name reflects Suntory’s philosophy of living “in harmony with people and nature.”

The house brings together malt whiskies from Yamazaki and Hakushu with grain whisky, principally from Chita, blending many different personalities into one unified expression.

Within the range, Suntory describes Hibiki 30 as the pinnacle of its blended whisky.

Malt and grain whiskies aged for at least 30 years

The malt components for Hibiki 30 are selected from Suntory’s rarest long-aged stocks, with every malt whisky used having matured for at least 30 years.

They are blended with carefully selected grain whiskies also aged for more than three decades.

Age alone is not enough. The blenders must identify casks that still retain fruit, aromatic complexity, balance and length after decades of maturation.

Because those stocks are extremely scarce, annual production is limited to only a few thousand bottles, and Suntory states that the production work is carried out by hand.

Mango, apricot and strawberry jam

Suntory describes the colour as deep amber.

The nose shows mango, apricot and strawberry jam.

For a whisky built from spirits aged more than thirty years, the opening is strikingly fruit-driven rather than dominated by wood.

Ripe tropical fruit and jam-like sweetness appear first, before the deeper mature oak character begins to unfold.

Viscosity, weight and sweet-sour richness

Suntory summarises the palate as viscous, full-bodied and sweet-sour.

The texture is exceptionally smooth, with substantial weight and depth.

Ripe-fruit sweetness is balanced by acidity, preventing the mature oak and concentration from becoming simply heavy.

A long finish of ripe fruit and kyara incense

The finish combines mature fruit with a kyara-like aromatic wood character and exceptional length.

Kyara is one of the most prized forms of Japanese incense wood, associated with deep, noble and complex fragrance.

In Hibiki 30, this oriental aromatic note emerges after the fruit and mature wood, giving the finish a distinctly Japanese sense of depth.

A 30-faceted crystal bottle

Hibiki 30 also differs visually from the standard Hibiki bottle.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony and Hibiki 21 use the famous 24-faceted bottle, symbolising the twenty-four hours of the day and the twenty-four traditional Japanese seasonal periods.

For Hibiki 30, Suntory uses a 30-faceted crystal bottle to represent the whisky’s age.

The neck is wrapped with a deep purple band, a colour traditionally associated with nobility in Japan, while the label is made from Echizen washi paper.

The bottle therefore expresses Japanese aesthetics through light, colour, material and craftsmanship as much as through the whisky itself.

International recognition across two decades

Hibiki 30 has received repeated recognition at major international whisky competitions.

At the International Spirits Challenge, it won the Trophy in 2004 and again in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

At the World Whiskies Awards, Hibiki 30 was named World’s Best Blended Whisky in both 2007 and 2008.

Recognition has continued in recent years, including an ISC Trophy in 2023 and Double Gold awards in 2024 and 2025.

Suntory Whisky Hibiki 30 Year Old

Japan | Japanese blended whisky | Malt and grain whiskies aged 30 years or more | 700ml | 43% ABV | Annual production: only a few thousand bottles | Limited release

Ripe fruit, viscous sweet-sour richness, powerful mature oak and a long kyara-like finish come together in a blend built from more than three decades of time. Hibiki 30 is Suntory’s highest expression of the art of blended Japanese whisky.

Available at IMAMI

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