Year of the Dragon - Suntory Old

To introduce the beginning of the New Year, which 2012 falls in the year of the dragon in conjunction with the Chinese zodiac, Suntory produced a limited release Suntory Old to celebrate the festivities, like they do almost every year. At the end of 2011, bottlings of Suntory Old began to appear across the nation sporting an intrinsic gold label with dragon graphics to commemorate the New Year. These bottlings, all though abundantly produced at the time, have now dwindled in availability. The bottle, which is housed in a bright red box (apparently signifies luck) and sports the same design as the label, retailed at the everyday price of 1,680 yen. These novelty bottlings were largely purchased and given as gifts throughout the New Year that is part of the practiced end-of year gift giving. Kansai readers who are interested in getting a bottle, whether it be purely for consumption, sentimental purposes, or as a nice ornament for a shelf, will be happy to learn that certain Daie and Co-op stores in Kobe have a few bottles remaining.  Some high-end department stores in Japan also sold an additional exclusive edition of Suntory Old for the festivities, in a ceramic dragon decanter.