Hibiki 21 Year Old

Try: global.rakuten.com/au/ (Search "hibiki")

According to postage info, they ship to Australia.

Awesome! Thanks a million for that.

Trying to get a hold of a couple of bottles on the Hibiki 21 yo in Sydney but it looks to be very scarce. I had is last week when I was in Tokyo and have brought one back with me but it won't last long. Do you know if this whisky is appreciated here (Australia) and where I can buy it? Are there others in the same predicament?

@inmante: 'Dont know about the 21yo. but my local Dan Murphy (Middle Park Q.) has both the 12yo. and the 17yo.. The 17 is a lovely 'drop', as well it may be at Au.$150.00 for a 700ml. I have heard good things about the 12yo. but have never tried it.

Good Luck.

@A'bunadhman Wow, what a coincidence. I was surfing about the Hibiki 21 last night. I found out about it from a review of Taketsuru 21 and learned about the Hibiki 21 from a Whiskybase. The reviewer was just gushing about the Hibiki 21. It's quite high in price now. Hovering in the high 200's. Too rich for my blood. Last time I shelled out that many shells was for a Bunnahabhain 41 year. It's hard for me to bring myself to pay that kind of money for whiskey or non-Scottish malt-based whisky. Call me old fashioned. Still, I remain entranced by the Hibiki 21. . .. .

The Taketsuru 17 has my eye. I found it for $100 somewheres. . . . . Still, I think I would like the Taketsuru 21 better. I found it for $137. A good price, I think. More my speed. . . .

I mean "more my speed" than the pricetag on the Hibiki 21 not the Taketsuru 17, which has the best price of all.

@NoElf

As @systemdown said, buy Japanese whisky direct from Japan. Unless you are planning to travel to Japan, Rakuten is the next best avenue, it's like eBay for Japan and you get reward points too through purchases that you can use like money for your future purchases. Just remember to toggle the delivery destination to: "Australia" as that will filter the listings properly.

I got mine from a seller called "auc-claude" and have been a long time customer of his. Admittedly, his prices are not the lowest but he seems to be able to converse in English and is seems to know a thing or two about sending stuff overseas. Sign-up for the Rakuten newsletters and you get email alerts on periodic promotions. Lookout for those international delivery offers as you can get up to nearly $100 off delivery costs - shipping charges from Japan to Australia can be expensive - can be up to $30 per bottle but you get express service and tracking which is the only method they will ship.

Be prepared to get hit with import duties but they normally range between $30 - $50 per bottle...and only if the Customs catch you. Even so with import duties and shipping charges added on, it still works out to be about 50% off Australian retail prices easy.

As stated above, Rakuten is a great site for Japanese whiskies. I often buy through them. A good tip if you are finding it hard to find something, is to google search "Rakuten Japan" and click on the Japanese script link, ie not the English. You can still use the search box in English, but you get a greater selection,as many of the companies who distribute through Raluten don't always register in The Englush version.
I got a few bottles of Taketsuru 17 for £23 each. They are around £70 or £80 here in the UK. I got two bottles of Miyagikyo 15 for £40, half of the UK and two bottles of Yoichi 12 again for about half the price over here. As for the Hibiki 21. As far as I know it's an annual release. You might want to send a friend request to Gardner Dunn on Facebook, who's a brand embasoder for Beam Suntory in the US, and is very accessible. If anyone can help you, I'd say he could.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Much appreciated. I see offerings on Rakuten but with shipping, and the ever vigilant Australian Customs diligently applying duties, it's comes out reasonably cheaper to have the office send down a few bottles with people on business trips to Sydney. The cabinet is now well stocked and I recommend this drop as a must try to any whisky lover.