Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Compass Box Artist Blend vs Hibiki Japanese Harmony
No flavour axis separates them. Compass Box Artist Blend publishes its cask types, Hibiki Japanese Harmony publishes none.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Compass Box Artist Blend | Hibiki Japanese Harmony | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blended scotch | Blended scotch |
| Origin | Scotland | Japan |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | 43% ABV | Not published |
| Cask | First-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast French oak, re-vatted Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned butt | Not disclosed |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £37 | £75 |
| Per 10cl | £5.29 | £11 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £123 | — |
| Chill-filtered | No | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: Compass Box Artist Blend from Scotland, Hibiki Japanese Harmony from Japan.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Compass Box Artist Blend lists first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast french oak and re-vatted palo cortado sherry-seasoned butt. Hibiki Japanese Harmony publishes no cask detail at all.
Chill filtration: Compass Box Artist Blend is not, Hibiki Japanese Harmony does not say.
Colour: Compass Box Artist Blend natural colour, Hibiki Japanese Harmony silent.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is £38 dearer a bottle than Compass Box Artist Blend.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony publishes no strength, so we will not cost it per litre of alcohol.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Compass Box Artist Blend | Hibiki Japanese Harmony |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 2 | 1 |
| Sweet | 6 | 7 |
| Fruity | 7 | 7 |
| Spicy | 5 | 4 |
| Woody | 5 | 4 |
| Sherried | 4 | 3 |
| Cereal | 6 | 4 |
| Oily | 6 | 5 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is cereal, 6 against 4.
Level only on fruity, 7 each.
Each bottle in its own right
Compass Box Artist Blend
Bright orchard fruit and cream with a dry, spiced finish. Proof that a blend can be interesting.
Compass Box publishes the complete recipe by percentage, which no large blender does: 45% Cameronbridge grain, 22% Linkwood, 10% Clynelish, 10% Balmenach, 8% a Highland malt blend in custom French oak, 5% Linkwood in a Palo Cortado butt. Component ages are the one thing conspicuously absent. Formerly sold as Great King Street Artist's Blend.
Full record →Hibiki Japanese Harmony
Honey, orange blossom and a whisper of incense. Delicate to the point of shy.
We cannot publish an ABV. Suntory's Japanese Harmony page states none, and the Japanese site renders its specs via JavaScript, so the widely repeated 43% is not something we can source. Suntory also names Mizunara only as a tasting note, not a declared cask type — so the common 'partly matured in Mizunara' claim is not supported by the producer's own wording.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Compass Box Artist Blend for value at 43%, transparency and first blended scotch, Hibiki Japanese Harmony for gift and highball.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Compass Box Artist Blend and Hibiki Japanese Harmony: compassboxwhisky.com, cdn.shopify.com, house.suntory.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.