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Japanese Whisky prices no longer offer value?

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@MuddyFunster
MuddyFunster started a discussion

About 12 months ago I was in Japan and managed to buy a few whiskys for very good value. It was just around the time that the Jim Murray World Whisky award went to Suntory Yamazaki, but the Japanese were still a bit baffled by it all.

My friend is traveling back from Japan so I researched what he could get me at the airport. Basically the prices have doubled. Yamazaki 18 and Hibiki 21 are now 50,000 yen at the airport. I got them for half that a year ago. All age statement stocks are getting wiped out, mainly by Chinese buyers. He also checked in at Dubai and it was the same situation. The Arabs and Chinese buyers are going nuts for it.

In London Yamazaki 12 is selling for around £100 as the stock runs out. Hakushu 12 for £70-£80.

In China the whiskys now have cult status.

It's amazing that within ONE year, the whiskys no longer represent the value of the product and no longer represent value in the market.

I would hate to see what happens if Bourbon takes off in China.

9 years ago

3 replies

@Alexsweden
Alexsweden replied

Thats the market for you.. In Sweden it is no longer possible to buy an age-stated Nikka except for the tsuru 17 which also surely is running low on stock.

9 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor replied

@MuddyFunster, yes, that asadora titled 'Massan', about Masataka Taketsuru led to huge changes in demand for Japanese age statement whiskies. The 'Japanese Whisky Crisis' Connosr discussion began 7 months ago today.

I tell my Chinese friends who like whisky that it is time for China to start making some/a lot of, whisky, themselves. The biggest problem with world-wide whisky popularity long-term is most likely to be supplies of oak wood. Even though hot climate maturation can give decent whisky in 3 to 5 years, you just can't harvest a newly planted oak tree in that kind of time-frame.

As for me, I am pretty resigned to there not being much Japanese age statement whisky available for quite a few years to come.

9 years ago 0

@Pierre_W
Pierre_W replied

@Victor, haha, that is probably the first time that I saw someone use the term 'asadora' (morning tv series) outside of Japan! Well done! I am off to Japan again tomorrow, to what is now a barren country as far as Japanese whisky is concerned. I will mainly focus on bars as there is still decent stuff to come by, sometimes even at fair prices.

9 years ago 0