Hibiki’s 24 Moments of Artistry: Japan’s Craft Arrives in the Cocktail Glass
From 1 October to 30 November 2026, Hibiki Japanese Harmony’s 24 Moments of Artistry sees 24 of the UK’s finest bars, from Artesian in London to The American Bar at Gleneagles, translate four ancient Japanese crafts into limited-edition cocktails.
Photography above, Waltz Bar, Shoreditch. Below left, Ma/Na Mayfair and below right, The Aubrey, Knightsbridge.
Britain’s love affair with Japan moved past the sushi counter some time ago. With a record 42.7 million international visitors travelling to Japan in 2025, and the country taking first place in the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Travel & Tourism Development Index, the fascination is now hardwired into how we eat, drink and furnish our homes: the hinoki bath, the hand-thrown cup, the omakase counter booked three weeks out. We have form here - see THE FLUXX on Temaki, Mayfair. The latest, and arguably most drinkable, expression of the obsession arrives courtesy of The House of Suntory.
The facts first. 24 Moments of Artistry is a two-month cocktail programme running across 24 bars and restaurants in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Surrey. Each bartender was assigned one of four disciplines, Mokkō woodcraft, Yakimono ceramics, Senshoku textiles and Washi papermaking, and asked to turn it into an original serve built around Hibiki Japanese Harmony. The number is no marketing coincidence. Hibiki’s famous 24-faceted bottle represents the 24 sekki, the seasonal periods of the traditional Japanese calendar, so this is a programme quite literally cut to fit the glass.
Why Are 24 British Bartenders Studying Kimono and Kilns?
Photography, Beaverbrook Estate. Bottom left, Speak in Code, Manchester and right, Kimpton Blythswood Square, Glasgow.
Before a single bottle was opened, the participating bartenders spent an immersive day at Japan House London, handling vintage kimono, studying traditional printmaking and ancient ceramics, and picking up chisels in a hands-on woodworking workshop. It is a rather more rigorous brief than “make it feel autumnal”, and it shows in the glass.
At Waltz in London, Verdant Porcelain (翠白磁) pairs silky Shiro-An, the sweet white bean paste of Japanese confectionery, with ripe fig and gently smoky tonka bean: a liquid study of fine white porcelain, late-summer landscapes and the warmth of the potter’s kiln. At The American Bar at Gleneagles, Unetsubo takes its cue from the scorch marks a kiln leaves on clay and, in a gloriously Scottish twist, reimagines them through the well-fired roll. Bread and Champagne become a toasted syrup with pear and pastry notes, served in a bespoke glass inspired by Unetsubo ceramics. Breakfast and a nightcap in one serve. We approve.
In Manchester, Speak in Code’s Hinoki 5 is a Manhattan that follows a craftsman’s day from morning tea to evening drink, bright citrus giving way to roasted tea and a warming spice. Beaverbrook Estate in Surrey layers sakura-infused Cocchi Americano, umeshu, hojicha and yuzu bitters in Kasane, finished with a whisper of salt, while Kimpton Blythswood Square in Glasgow channels the layered construction of Heian-period kimono in Hanayome (花嫁, meaning “bride”), a whisky-forward serve with tomato and chrysanthemum tea. Yes, tomato. Trust the process.
Balance, Harmony and a Little Bit of Bond
Photography, Dinings SW3.
For Nathan Craig, Bar Manager at Dinings SW3, whose Mokume (木目, or “wood grain”) answers the woodworking brief, the lesson went deeper than technique. “When I learned about Japanese woodworking, what stood out wasn’t just the craftsmanship, it was the philosophy behind it,” he says. “Every piece has a purpose, and the beauty comes from how they’re brought together.”
That idea of parts held in balance is the whisky’s own founding principle. Hibiki is blended from Suntory’s Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita distilleries in pursuit of wa, balance and harmony, and the house has been at this since Shinjiro Torii founded Japan’s first malt whisky distillery at Yamazaki in 1923. The programme also extends Hibiki’s wider platform, The Masterpiece of Japanese Artistry, which has already paired the brand with historic Kyoto kimono house Chiso and actress Anna Sawai.
Which London Bars Are Pouring Hibiki This Autumn?
Photography above, Lyaness Bar, London. Bottom left, Spy Bar Raffles London at The OWO and bottom right, Zuma Bar London.
Nineteen of the 24 venues are in London, and the line-up reads like a greatest hits of the capital’s bar scene. Artesian at The Langham, long a fixture of the world’s best bar lists, pours Traces of Fire, while Ryan Chetiyawardana’s Lyaness on the South Bank offers the Kazanawa Cocktail and Erik Lorincz’s Kwãnt in Mayfair answers with Hikari. The Spy Bar at Raffles London at The OWO, tucked inside the former Old War Office and its storied espionage history, has with admirable commitment to the bit named its serve You Only Live Twice, which is, of course, the Bond novel set in Japan.
The grand hotels have turned out in force. China Tang at The Dorchester gives the papermaking brief a classic frame with a Washi Old Fashioned, Brooklands Bar at The Peninsula, the motor-racing-themed rooftop above Hyde Park Corner, naturally goes for the Final Lap, and Eagle Bar at The Chancery Rosewood, inside the former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square, serves Phazed. 8 at The Londoner in Leicester Square stirs a Kuri Old Fashioned(kuri being the Japanese chestnut, an autumnal touch we heartily endorse), GŌNG Bar at the Shangri-La in The Shard folds paper into grain with Folded Grain, and Velvet by Salvatore Calabrese at Corinthia London pours its own Kasane. Rounding out the headliners, Zuma in Knightsbridge brings Shōken and Beaverbrook Townhouse in Chelsea shakes a Karatsu Champagne Cocktail, named after one of Japan’s most revered pottery traditions.
What it all signals is a British bar culture that has moved firmly from novelty to craft literacy. Japan’s pull now lies less in the exotic than in process, patience and materials, the same values reshaping our interiors through pale timber, washi lighting and the quiet confidence of the handmade. That a whisky brand chose to send bartenders to a workshop rather than simply ship them a recipe card says a great deal about where luxury drinking is heading. Like the sekki themselves, the moment is fleeting: the programme closes on 30 November 2026.
Completing the 24 are The Balmoral in Edinburgh with Lasting Impression, and in London Disrepute in Soho with If a Tree Falls…, Kioku with Emerald Dreams, Ma/Na with Black Widow, Bar Lotus with Hyaku Sai and The Aubrey at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park with Monozukuri, the Japanese word for the art of making things, which rather sums up the whole endeavour.
Enjoy!
Full venue details are at hibikimomentsofartistry
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