1/Hakushu 12 is one of those bottles that doesn't taste much like what sits around it. The Japanese distillery's first release for the U.S., and it goes its own way. Here's where it lands.
2/Ask the drinkers of the bottles nearest Hakushu 12 what it's worth to them, each from what they pay for their own, and the answers run from $254 to $254. At $378 it sits above all of them. Priced for its fans.
3/Pour it and you get the fleshier side of Hakushu. It keeps the freshness of the 10 year old but opens with more pineapple and grapefruit, a little jasmine and osmanthus. The palate's fresh and lively, a hint of persimmon, a tickle of smoke.
4/On price: it usually sells around $378, and we've seen it from $348 to $380. That's about $15.92 a pour at home, with roughly 24 in the bottle.
A Kentucky bourbon and a Japanese blend, both sitting at the bottom of their own price range this week. Angels Envy is $96. Nikka From The Barrel, $77. Plain shelf tickets at Dan Murphy's, neither one a members' deal.
Two whiskies at their own floor this week, and the shelf's oddest near-miss. Proper No. Twelve, the Irish blend, is $59. The Chita, Suntory's Japanese grain whisky, is $99, down from the $111 it carried in mid-September. Both plain shelf tickets, neither a members' deal.
The Chita is Suntory's single-grain, the light one in the Japanese line-up, and it's crossed a hundred dollars. It's $111 at Dan Murphy's this morning, up from $99.95 last Thursday.
Hakushu 12 has crept up again — it's $378 at Dan Murphy's this week, thirty dollars more than last. Lovely whisky. Also a lot of money for a 12-year-old.
A pairing that makes no shelf sense: Blanton's Straight From The Barrel, a Kentucky bourbon at $304, and Nikka From The Barrel, a Japanese blend at $99. The engine calls them its second-closest match in the whole set.
310 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: Grant's Triple Wood 1 litre at $1.99 a standard drink; the median is $4.16; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 235 of the 310 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
305 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: McAllister 1 litre at $2.00 a standard drink; the median is $4.03; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 228 of the 305 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakushu 12 Year Old Whisky | $378.00 | observed | $378.00 | $278.85 | 26.2% | #22 of 26 | $15.92 | #25 of 26 | 4 | |
| Hakushu Single Malt Japanese Whisky | $169.99 | observed | $150.00 | $133.67 | 10.9% | #15 of 26 | $7.16 | #17 of 26 | 3 | |
| Hibiki Harmony Whisky | $179.85 | observed | $169.95 | $149.47 | 12.1% | #18 of 26 | $7.57 | #20 of 26 | 2 | |
| Hibiki Japanese Harmony 2021 Limited Edition Blended Whisky | $730.00 | observed | $730.00 | $566.87 | 22.4% | #21 of 26 | $30.74 | #26 of 26 | 1 | |
| Kurayoshi The Tottori Blended Japanese Whisky | $96.99 | observed | $74.00 | $70.76 | 4.4% | #6 of 26 | $4.08 | #5 of 26 | 3 | |
| Kyoto Nishijin Ori Red Belt Whisky | $103.99 | observed | $94.00 | $89.83 | 4.4% | #7 of 26 | $4.71 | #12 of 26 | 2 | |
| Mars Iwai Bourbon Barrel Whisky | $107.99 | observed | $100.79 | $97.76 | 3.0% | #4 of 26 | $4.56 | #9 of 26 | 2 | |
| Mars Iwai Tradition Japanese Blended Whisky | $116.99 | observed | $109.19 | $104.85 | 4.0% | #5 of 26 | $4.94 | #13 of 26 | 2 | |
| Nikka Coffey Grain Japanese Whisky | $134.99 | observed | $88.00 | $83.12 | 5.5% | #10 of 26 | $5.43 | #14 of 26 | 2 | |
| Nikka Miyagiko SM Aromatic Yeast | $370.00 | observed | $370.00 | $293.82 | 20.6% | #19 of 26 | $14.25 | #23 of 26 | 2 | |
| Nikka Miyagikyo Japanese Whisky | $135.99 | observed | $120.00 | $113.92 | 5.1% | #8 of 26 | $5.47 | #15 of 26 | 2 | |
| Nikka Whisky Coffey Malt Whisky | $141.99 | observed | $98.99 | $92.09 | 7.0% | #12 of 26 | $3.54 | #2 of 26 | 2 | |
| Nikka Whisky From The Barrel Japanese Whisky | $74.99 | observed | $107.80 | $97.02 | 10.0% | #14 of 26 | $3.70 | #3 of 26 | 4 | |
| Nikka Whisky Yoichi Single Malt Japanese Whisky | $135.99 | observed | $135.99 | $128.81 | 5.3% | #9 of 26 | $5.47 | #16 of 26 | 2 | |
| Nikka Yoichi SM Aromatic Yeast | $370.00 | observed | $370.00 | $289.12 | 21.9% | #20 of 26 | $13.96 | #22 of 26 | 2 | |
| Shinobu Lightly Peated Pure Malt Whiskey | $150.99 | observed | $150.99 | $109.13 | 27.7% | #24 of 26 | $4.63 | #10 of 26 | 2 | |
| Suntory Toki Black | $88.99 | observed | $88.99 | $79.18 | 11.0% | #16 of 26 | $3.75 | #4 of 26 | 2 | |
| Tenjaku Blended Japanese Whisky | $91.99 | observed | $71.00 | $70.13 | 1.2% | #1 of 26 | $4.16 | #6 of 26 | 3 | |
| The Chita Japanese Whisky | $102.99 | observed | $99.00 | $96.53 | 2.5% | #3 of 26 | $4.34 | #7 of 26 | 4 | |
| The Shinobu Blended Japanese Whisky | $109.99 | observed | $89.00 | $86.86 | 2.4% | #2 of 26 | $4.63 | #11 of 26 | 3 | |
| The Shinobu Pure Malt 10 Year Old Japanese Whisky | $197.99 | observed | $169.00 | $112.17 | 33.6% | #26 of 26 | $8.34 | #21 of 26 | 2 | |
| The Shinobu Pure Malt Japanese Whisky | $146.99 | observed | $146.99 | $106.90 | 27.3% | #23 of 26 | $4.42 | #8 of 26 | 2 | |
| Toki Blended Japanese Whisky | $69.95 | observed | $69.95 | $64.52 | 7.8% | #13 of 26 | $2.95 | #1 of 26 | 2 | |
| Tokinoka Japanese Whisky | $117.99 | observed | $165.19 | $154.74 | 6.3% | #11 of 26 | $7.48 | #19 of 26 | 2 | |
| Yamazaki 12 Year Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky | $347.99 | observed | $376.00 | $268.17 | 28.7% | #25 of 26 | $14.65 | #24 of 26 | 2 | |
| Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve Whisky | $169.99 | observed | $184.99 | $163.66 | 11.5% | #17 of 26 | $7.16 | #18 of 26 | 2 |