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Bottle archive / kansai

Suntory Ao

Name: Suntory Ao
Brand: Suntory
SKU: suntory-ao

サントリー碧 Ao

On the shelf Does not meet the standard

Product image supplied by the retailer.

What it costs in Japan

Observed shop / shelf price

¥5,000

700ml · tax basis not recorded

Static FX equivalent: about $33 at ¥150/$ (2026-08); not an overseas observation.

Our estimate · checked August 2026

Observed shop / shelf price · 750ml · tax basis not recorded

$74

Observed price · checked August 2026
wine-searcher US average, 750ml. Weaker than a single named retailer — averages blend ordinary shops with specialist importers, which runs high on bottles Japan does not officially export. Replace when a Total Wine listing is confirmed.

No markup multiple is shown unless both the Japan and overseas values are observed transaction/shelf prices with dated provenance.

Can you actually buy it here?

Stocked by ordinary Japanese liquor shops and supermarkets at list price.

Our estimate · checked August 2026

Is it Japanese whisky?

Does not meet the JSLMA standard, usually because some of the liquid was distilled outside Japan. Several producers say so openly — this is a statement about the category a bottle belongs to, not about its quality.

How it tastes

Blended from whisky made in five countries, including Japan. Suntory is open about this — it is sold as a world blend, not as Japanese whisky — but it sits on the same shelf and confuses plenty of buyers abroad. Good in its own right; just not what the label design implies.

Peat

Sweetness

Fruit

Spice

Oak

Smoke

Complexity

Body

Our estimates, scored the same way across every bottle so they can be compared.

Specification

Producer	Suntory
Region	Kansai
Type	World Blend
Age	No age statement
ABV	43%
Casks	American oak, Sherry, Mizunara
Best served	Highball
Our rating	82 / 100 (editorial)

Where to buy outside Japan

The Whisky Exchange

ships from UK · not yet linked for this bottle

Master of Malt

ships from UK · not yet linked (affiliate application pending)

UK retailers ship to the US state by state, and the list changes. Check your state on the retailer's own site before ordering — any state list we published here would be out of date within months.