Whisky lovers around the world will have to go without some of their favourite tipples after a major producer in Japan announced it was suspending sales of two prestigious whiskies amid surging demand.



Suntory will stop selling its Hakushu 12-year-old single malt next month, according to IT Media, with sales of its Hibiki 17-year-old blend reportedly ending in September.

Brian Ashcraft, co-author of Japanese Whisky: the Ultimate Guide to the World’s Most Desirable Spirit, said the imminent disappearance of Hibiki 17 – famously drunk by Bill Murray in Lost in Translation – was particularly “depressing”.

“For something like the Hibiki 17, the youngest whisky in that blend is 17 years old, and 17 years ago people weren’t drinking that much Japanese whisky, so Suntory and (rival distillery) Nikka weren’t making much,” he told the Guardian.

“Domestically, sales have turned around, but also internationally, especially in newer markets that didn’t really exist before. Unfortunately, increased demand with a scant supply will result in shortages.”

The current shortage in Japan can be traced back to the slump in whisky consumption after it peaked in the early 1980s, when salarymen knocked back blended versions of the drink as highballs or watered down, mizuwari-style.

That prompted distillers to reduce production – a decision that has left them short of aged whiskies today, according to George Koutsakis, a Japanese whisky specialist.

Not even dramatic rises in the prices of aged Japanese whiskies has managed to dent demand, Koutsakis wrote on the Forbes website. “Bottles are bought up no matter how high the retail markup. With demand at an all-time high, several online retailers have even created ballots for extremely rare, well-aged releases.”

Global interest in Japan’s “water of life” began about a decade ago when the country’s single malts and premium blends started outperforming Scottish whiskies in international competitions.



Domestic demand surged in 2014, after the man acclaimed as the father of Japanese whisky, Masataka Taketsuru, and his Scottish wife, Rita Cowan, were the subjects of a popular daytime TV drama broadcast by NHK.

The boom in inward-bound tourism has only added to pressure on major Japanese distillers, which are increasing production and capacity to meet future demand.

Given that whiskies with age statements require maturation, Ashcraft speculated it could be “years until certain releases become widely available again”.

But he was confident that the current shortage would do little harm to Japanese whisky’s global reputation, given that other high-quality labels are still widely available.

“While Suntory and Nikka are experiencing shortages, a handful of newer distilleries have started distilling in Japan,” he said. “Their whiskies might be young, but they’re taking creative approaches that will, no doubt, help further define Japanese whisky.”