亞洲珍藏家_老酒收購藍先生

三得利酒廠旗下"響"的年份威士忌即將停產，目前即將推出新的無年份酒款

最近的消息指出今年九月日本三得利酒廠即將停產"響17年"這個品項 ，三得利酒廠的發言人Hasumi Ozawa表示已經確認酒廠即將會發表全新的響威士忌酒款，並且命名為"Blender's  Choice" ，將會在2018年9月4日推出。

目前響推出這支第三款的無年分威士忌 ， 將會是響的核心系列產品之一 ; 它融入了"響Harmony威士忌"以及"響Harmony大師精選威士忌"用兩者的內容物由三得利調酒師團隊去做到了最完美的調和 ，根據Ozawa提到這當中加入了需多不同酒齡的陳年威士忌，才能調成這麼一款平衡圓潤並且有深度的酒款。目前這支新的酒款是700ml酒精度43%，三得利公司只會在日本國內市場販售，目前還沒有計畫在日本以外的海外市場做銷售，所以配量有限的情況下Ozawa預計這款酒數量也並不會太多。

而最近停產的消息讓全世界感到驚訝，需多日本威士忌的粉絲們紛紛在社交媒體表示難過，響17年及白洲12年已經宣布停產了，在這之前2015年當時，響12年也在三得利的產品線中消失了，在我們的對談中，Ozawa也提到今年確定不會推出新的年份山崎限定版，而這個品項從2014年以來每年都會有它的忠實粉絲們在收藏。

現在世界上所有大間的知名酒廠都在推出無年份的威士忌，這是日後威士忌走向必然的趨勢，這樣一來較老年份的威士忌也比較能夠維持住庫存，但是如果需求持續成長，未來10年將會反覆發生老年份酒庫存不夠的問題。而在全世界新興威士忌酒廠的熱潮帶動下，將會在市場上看到更多年輕的威士忌酒款，消費者也開始了解到並不是年輕的威士忌就代表是比較劣質的酒，威士忌產業正經歷著不同以往經驗的快速改變。當年份不再是主要的問題，酒廠跟調酒師可以自由的去實驗，用不同的橡木桶、不同年齡的酒款以及快速熟成的技術來釀酒，我們來看台灣的葛瑪蘭酒廠，為何在10年內就可以建立如此成功的品牌，就是因為他們擁用快速熟成的技術，創新的製程以及大量的實驗熱情。

三得利也強調，在未來幾年內將會重新發表"響"及"白洲"的年份威士忌，而以過去"響Harmony大師精選威士忌"銷售經驗來判斷，新的"響Blender's  Choice"將會成為響系列的主力商品之一，在三得利公司尚未發布任何新響的圖片資訊，先耐心等待相關的新聞發佈。

更多先進的威士忌資訊請關注George Koutsakis先生的IG。

Following the recent news that Suntory will discontinue the Hibiki 17-Year-Old in Japan from September, Hasumi Ozawa, a member of the Suntory PR team, has confirmed that a new, exciting Hibiki whisky expression, named 'Blender's Choice', will be added to the company's portfolio, launching domestically on September 4th, 2018.

The new expression is the third no-age statement (NAS) whisky to be added to the Hibiki core range, alongside the Hibiki Japanese Harmony and Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master’s Select. The blend will include carefully selected vintages, married together by Suntory’s team of expert blenders. According to Ozawa, the addition of a few wine cask-aged whiskies in the blend delivers a round, well-balanced profile and immense depth. The blend will come in 700ml bottles, at 43%, and will initially be released for the domestic Japanese market, destined for on-premises sales. At the moment, there is no plan to launch the new expression overseas. 'The Hibiki Blender's Choice will be under a limited allocation,' Ozawa says, so bottle numbers aren't expected to be huge.

The news of the recent discontinuations took the world by surprise, as fans took to social media to express their sadness.  In 2015, years before the Hibiki 17 and Hakushu 12 discontinuations were announced, the Hibiki 12-Year-Old was also removed from the Suntory core line-up. During our talk, Ozawa confirmed that this year will not see the release of a new Yamazaki Limited Edition bottling. The hugely popular range has consistently brought fans a new bottle each year, since 2014.

As more NAS whiskies are released by some of the biggest whisky-makers in the world, this trend may be the future of whisky. Aged stock may be replenished temporarily, but if demand continues to grow, the issue of steady stock aged for a decade or two could always be a recurring problem. The wave of new whisky distilleries across the globe also means that the market will be seeing more and more releases of young whisky. As consumers start to realize that younger liquid does not mean its inferior, the whisky scene will continue to experience rapid change. When age is no longer the main issue, distillers and blenders can experiment freely, playing with different wood finishes, younger vintages, and accelerated aging techniques. Look at the Taiwanese Kavalan distillery and the brand's success after just 10 years. It's all down to accelerated maturation, innovative production methods, and vast experimentation and passion.