HIBIKI 17 YO — Gold Crest & Gold Back Label — First Edition from the 1990s
Auction dates: 11–18 September 2026
End time: 20:00 (HKT)
■ Background
When Hibiki whisky was first launched in 1989, it didn't carry an age statement. It was sold as a no-age-statement bottling, with a gold cap and a matching gold back label. The front label featured a golden lion crest in the top left corner — the earliest cap and label design in the Hibiki range. As the years went on, Hibiki's caps and labels kept changing. In the 1990s, as the whisky grew more popular, Suntory brought out an age-statement version, marking the label with "17 Years".
■ Identifying features
The floral crest on this bottle is known in the market as the "Gold Flower" design, and the back label is still printed in gold. The cap is wrapped in a plastic shrink seal featuring a diagonal anti-counterfeit pattern and the word "HIBIKI" in white. A black cord and wax seal hang from the neck.
Every time Hibiki changes its label or cap design, the previous version is discontinued for good — it can never be produced again. As time passes, surviving bottles of the earlier designs become scarcer, and second-hand prices often run well above the original retail price. This lot — a Hibiki 17 Year Old with the Gold Crest and gold back label — belongs to exactly this discontinued, older lineage.
End time: 20:00 (HKT)
■ Background
When Hibiki whisky was first launched in 1989, it didn't carry an age statement. It was sold as a no-age-statement bottling, with a gold cap and a matching gold back label. The front label featured a golden lion crest in the top left corner — the earliest cap and label design in the Hibiki range. As the years went on, Hibiki's caps and labels kept changing. In the 1990s, as the whisky grew more popular, Suntory brought out an age-statement version, marking the label with "17 Years".
■ Identifying features
The floral crest on this bottle is known in the market as the "Gold Flower" design, and the back label is still printed in gold. The cap is wrapped in a plastic shrink seal featuring a diagonal anti-counterfeit pattern and the word "HIBIKI" in white. A black cord and wax seal hang from the neck.
Every time Hibiki changes its label or cap design, the previous version is discontinued for good — it can never be produced again. As time passes, surviving bottles of the earlier designs become scarcer, and second-hand prices often run well above the original retail price. This lot — a Hibiki 17 Year Old with the Gold Crest and gold back label — belongs to exactly this discontinued, older lineage.