Vermilion, pine and plum: Hibiki Master’s Select dressed for Lunar New Year 2026.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select Lunar New Year 2026 is a special seasonal presentation of Suntory’s travel-retail-exclusive Master’s Select, created for the 2026 Lunar New Year.

The whisky inside is Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select: the regular Hibiki Japanese Harmony blend given additional depth through a special component of Yamazaki malt matured in Spanish oak. Plum, orange marmalade, dark chocolate, spice and wood add a darker dimension to Hibiki’s familiar elegance.

A Lunar New Year presentation for 2026

The defining feature of the 2026 edition is not a new whisky recipe, but a limited Lunar New Year 2026 presentation.

The vermilion-red box is decorated with gold-accented pine and plum motifs.

The colour immediately evokes Lunar New Year celebration, while pine and plum carry long-standing Japanese associations with longevity, resilience and the arrival of spring.

The result brings Hibiki’s Japanese design language together with the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year season.

What is Hibiki Master’s Select?

Master’s Select is a travel-retail interpretation of Hibiki Japanese Harmony.

Standard Japanese Harmony is known for floral perfume, honeyed sweetness, orange peel, sandalwood and a subtle Mizunara-influenced finish.

Master’s Select adds a special component of Yamazaki Spanish-oak-matured malt, bringing greater richness, wood character and bittersweet depth.

The depth of Yamazaki Spanish oak

The defining addition is Yamazaki malt matured in Spanish oak casks.

Spanish oak can contribute dried-fruit richness, cacao, dark fruit, spice and a deeper oak sweetness during maturation.

Layered into Hibiki’s soft and balanced structure, it gives Master’s Select a denser profile and a clearer contrast between sweetness and bitterness than standard Japanese Harmony.

Plum, rose and sweet wood

Suntory’s official tasting notes describe the colour as amber.

On the nose: plum in syrup, rose and sweet woodiness.

Where standard Japanese Harmony leans toward rose, lychee, rosemary and sandalwood, Master’s Select moves further into ripe fruit and sweet oak.

Orange marmalade and dark chocolate

The palate brings orange marmalade, dark chocolate and gentle bitterness.

Sweet-and-sour citrus and darker chocolate tones sit within the rounded texture that defines Hibiki, giving the travel-retail blend greater depth without losing harmony.

A long finish of sweetness, acidity, spice and oak

The finish is described as long in sweetness and acidity, with spice and woodiness.

Compared with the gentler finish of standard Japanese Harmony, Master’s Select leaves a more pronounced Spanish-oak signature.

The 24-faceted Hibiki bottle

The whisky is presented in Hibiki’s iconic 24-faceted bottle.

The twenty-four facets represent the twenty-four sekki, the seasonal divisions of the traditional Japanese calendar.

For Lunar New Year 2026, that already seasonal design is paired with the festive pine-and-plum presentation, giving the familiar Master’s Select a more ceremonial character.

700ml, 43% ABV and travel-retail distribution

The bottle contains 700ml at 43% ABV.

Master’s Select is a duty-free and travel-retail release, and the Lunar New Year 2026 edition has been distributed through selected travel-retail locations in Asia.

Because it is not a continuing domestic retail release, the seasonal packaging adds a strong collecting and gifting dimension.

Another limited Hibiki from 2026

2026 also brought Hibiki Blossom Harmony 2026, which uses sakura-cask-finished whisky to express spring through the blend itself.

By contrast, Master’s Select Lunar New Year 2026 keeps the established Master’s Select whisky and expresses the season through its limited presentation.

For the long-aged pinnacle of the Hibiki range, see our feature on Hibiki 30 Year Old.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select Lunar New Year 2026

Japan | Suntory | Blended Japanese Whisky | Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select | Special addition of Yamazaki Spanish-oak-matured malt | 700ml | 43% ABV | Lunar New Year 2026 limited presentation | Travel-retail exclusive

Plum, rose, orange marmalade and dark chocolate give Master’s Select more Spanish-oak depth than standard Hibiki Japanese Harmony. For 2026, that whisky is wrapped in a vermilion Lunar New Year presentation decorated with pine and plum — a seasonal edition built around both flavour and Japanese visual symbolism.

Available at IMAMI

IMAMI is a specialist retailer offering current releases, travel-retail exclusives and long-aged Japanese whisky. For product availability, please enquire at IMAMI Ginza, IMAMI Shinsaibashi, or contact us.

As this is a limited travel-retail release, availability changes frequently.