Suntory was founded by Shinjirō Torii, who, after learning about foreign alcohols during an apprenticeship with a pharmacist, decided to open a wine cellar named Torii Shoten in 1899. He first experienced success as a wine merchant with his flagship product Akadama Port Wine, launched in 1907. His business took the name Kotobukiya in 1921, two years before the construction of Japan’s first distillery, Yamazaki (1923), halfway between Kyoto and Osaka. Japan’s first real whisky was released in 1929 under the name Shirofuda (“white label”), followed in 1937 by the famous Kakubin. The group’s name was changed to Suntory in 1963. In the 1970s, under the direction of Shinjirō Torii’s son Keizo Saiji, two new distilleries were built, the Chita grain distillery in 1972 and Hakushu in 1973, 50 years after Yamazaki was first founded. In 1984, the first widely available Japanese single malt was released, Yamazaki 12 Year Old. 1989 saw the launch of another iconic whisky, the blend Hibiki. After buying Morrison Bowmore in 1994 and Beam in 2014, Suntory (now Beam Suntory) became one of the world’s largest whisky groups, with distilleries in Japan, America and Scotland, including Glen Garioch, Laphroaig and Bowmore.

Hibiki Japanese Harmony returned to the range in 2015 after the brand’’s entry-level 12 year old was discontinued. Master’’s Select is an edition reserved for the duty free market. This beautifully decorated special edition presented in the famous 24-facet bottle—designed to represent the 24 seasons of the Japanese calendar—was released in 2016. It is the work of chief blender Shinji Fukuyo and master blender Shingo Torii, the great grandson of Suntory’’s founder. The exact details of the blend are unknown, but, as usual, it does include Suntory’’s three distilleries, Yamazaki and Hakushu for the malt and Chita for the grain.