Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Hibiki Japanese Harmony vs Kavalan Classic Single Malt
No flavour axis separates them. Kavalan Classic Single Malt publishes its cask types, Hibiki Japanese Harmony publishes none.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Hibiki Japanese Harmony | Kavalan Classic Single Malt | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blended scotch | Single malt |
| Origin | Japan | Taiwan |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | Not published | 40% ABV |
| Cask | Not disclosed | American oak |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £75 | £60 |
| Per 10cl | £11 | £8.57 |
| Per litre of alcohol | — | £214 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: Hibiki Japanese Harmony from Japan, Kavalan Classic Single Malt from Taiwan.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is a blended scotch, Kavalan Classic Single Malt a single malt.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Kavalan Classic Single Malt lists american oak. Hibiki Japanese Harmony publishes no cask detail at all.
Neither states chill filtration.
Neither set of specifications is producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is £15 dearer a bottle than Kavalan Classic Single Malt.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony publishes no strength, so we will not cost it per litre of alcohol.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Hibiki Japanese Harmony | Kavalan Classic Single Malt |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 1 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 7 |
| Fruity | 7 | 8 |
| Spicy | 4 | 4 |
| Woody | 4 | 5 |
| Sherried | 3 | 3 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 5 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is peaty, 1 against 0.
Identical on sweet, spicy, sherried and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
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 →Kavalan Classic Single Malt
Mango and coconut — subtropical maturation doing something Scotland cannot.
Matures in Yilan's heat, losing far more to evaporation each year than a Scottish warehouse.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Hibiki Japanese Harmony for gift and highball, Kavalan Classic Single Malt for something different and fruit-forward drinkers.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Hibiki Japanese Harmony and Kavalan Classic Single Malt: house.suntory.com, kavalanwhisky.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.