Rare whisky on sale duty free for first-class fliers in Japan

First-class travel on Japan’s airlines now comes with another perk: Limited-edition bottles of Suntory’s Hibiki 100th anniversary whisky at a relatively reasonable close-to-shelf price.
The rare bottles, which can only be purchased duty-free in-flight on ANA and Japan Airlines, are highly sought-after items among whiskey aficionados and often sell for a lot more in liquor shops and online stores.
The airlines are limiting sales to one bottle per person for those lucky enough to be traveling first class: ANA’s bottles sell for ¥50,000 ($330) while Japan Airlines is pricing theirs at ¥60,000.
ANA confirmed the offer.
The chance to snag the coveted whisky at a bargain price has created a buzz on internet flier forums and also offers an arbitrage opportunity, travel writer Ben Schlappig said on his blog. The Hibiki bottles by Suntory Spirits, part of Suntory Holdings, can fetch around ¥150,000 online and even more in the U.S. and Europe.
With a first-class ticket, one-way, on ANA from Tokyo Haneda to Los Angeles costing around ¥1.5 million, the profit-flipping opportunity might go a small way toward reclaiming the cost.