Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Hibiki Japanese Harmony vs Monkey Shoulder
No flavour axis separates these two, so the choice is price and occasion.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Hibiki Japanese Harmony | Monkey Shoulder | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blended scotch | Blended malt |
| Origin | Japan | Speyside, Scotland |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | Not published | 43% ABV |
| Cask | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £75 | £30 |
| Per 10cl | £11 | £4.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | — | £100 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: Hibiki Japanese Harmony from Japan, Monkey Shoulder from Speyside, Scotland.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is a blended scotch, Monkey Shoulder a blended malt.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Neither producer publishes cask types.
Neither states chill filtration.
Hibiki Japanese Harmony: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Hibiki Japanese Harmony is £45 dearer a bottle than Monkey Shoulder.
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 | Monkey Shoulder |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 1 | 1 |
| Sweet | 7 | 7 |
| Fruity | 7 | 6 |
| Spicy | 4 | 5 |
| Woody | 4 | 4 |
| Sherried | 3 | 3 |
| Cereal | 4 | 6 |
| Oily | 5 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is cereal, 4 against 6.
Identical on peaty, sweet, woody and sherried.
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 →Monkey Shoulder
Vanilla, orange and malt, built to survive ice and ginger ale. An honest cocktail malt.
William Grant & Sons does not name the three constituent malts anywhere on its own site — the widely repeated Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie attribution is unofficial. The 43% we list is the producer's US figure; no UK strength is published at all.
Full record →Both listed for highball; only Hibiki Japanese Harmony for gift; only Monkey Shoulder for cocktails and value.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Hibiki Japanese Harmony and Monkey Shoulder: house.suntory.com, monkeyshoulder.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.