Thirty different malts are employed from Suntory's three distilleries, most with an age well above 21 years. Hibiki 21 Year Old was, yet again, selected as the best-blended whisky in the world at the World Whisky Awards 2017. Hibiki has been awarded every year at the WWA since 2009. The judges described it as being “Elegant, sweet and complex. This whisky is full of dried fruit, orange peel, strawberry jam, and baked apple from start to finish. Smooth, subtle and fairly short.”