Monday, April 25, 2011

Mega Don Quijote Kobe Honten

Don Quijote have shops all over the country. They stock everything and anything from crazy toys and party goods to quirky snacks. The majority of you living in Japan most likely have had the pleasure in entertaining yourself in one of these novelty stores, it’s almost on everyone’s “to do list”.

Until now, a great number of Don Quijote stores have stocked a pretty bland (in my opinion) selection of alcohol including cheap domestic and international blends. With the opening of Kobe’s Don Quijote Mega store this has all changed. For single malt fans of both domestic and international expressions, this store is a must to visit.

5 minutes by foot from the Kasugano Michi station (dentetsu honline) will get you in the vicinity of the new mega store. This store is hard not to miss with its great big red, yellow, and black sign on the roof advertising that everything is cheap.The selection of single malts and their pricing at the new store is pretty impressive (again, in my opinion). You can pick up some well-priced Scottish independents, a few limited edition bottlings, and perhaps my favourite, a very good selection of top shelf domestic drams. The majority of drams available here most likely can be found at other stores, but what sets this place apart is if you take your trusty passport  with you, tax is exempt.  

Address
651-0072 3-2-23 wakihamama-cho
Kobe-city, chuou-ku Hyogo

Telephone
078-230-4811

Hours
24hrs

5 comments:

  1. Wow! I was wondering when they would finally start to sell single malts. I always walked to the alcohol selection in a futile search for a whisky that wasn't encased in plastic. 16,500 for the Yamazaki 18 seems a little steep though?

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  2. The Yamazaki 18 at 16,500 was apparently on special, hence the yellow price tag. Though it does sound a little steep, comparing the price to a Yamazaki 12 the 18 seems slightly reasonable I would have thought. Now you have got me thinking......

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  3. It might be on discount there, I am just used to the price here in the US: $100 at the local retailer.

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  4. Yama 18 and Hakushu 18 have, at least in Tokyo, has been priced at around Y18000-19000 for years(currently 19900 at Shinanoya stores). Even at Narita the duty free price for Yama 18 is Y15000. The price of both have gone up markedly in Europe over the last month or so and I suspect this is to bring prices there in line with domestic ones. If you can still get it for US100 then I suggest you stock up. FYI the 12 sells for $AUD86 in Australia and that is with $1AUD buying USD$1.10

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  5. Made a nice little visit to another store over the weekend (which I will be writing about in a future blog), it appears that the Yamazaki priced at 16,500 is a decent price. This place had their Yamazaki 18 at a slightly more expensive price. As I mentioned, if you take your passports along with you you will get a further 5 percent discount.

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