In the bottle: Pure sweet potato out of the bottle with some soft and subtle vanilla and woody notes, overall very smooth with no real sharp edges. Once this opens up a little you find some additional sweetness along with a hint of alcohol, which in this case is 27% and does a good job of carrying some of the sweeter scents to the top.

On the rocks: What first hits the palate is a wave of freshness, not sure how else to describe it, in some ways it reminds me of fresh mint, just without the mint, really delicious. Intertwined in those fresh notes are some really nice vanilla, toasted rice and soft caramel that work really well and help to give Kuromaru some really nice depth. Once you let the ice melt a little, the sweetness stats to become more forward and the sweet potato flavors open up and  Overall, this is dangerously drinkable, upon finishing my first glass I was pouring another, and almost another after that. 

Straight: The freshness is still there but strangely not much else, it is amazing how neutral Kuromaru is neat in a glass. There is a nice bit of heat which much like on the rocks is incredibly smooth, the finish is quite nice as a lot of the softer flavors start to make an appearnace, especially the sweet potato and a little candied vanilla. Overall, not a bad to enjoy this, but considering how much this opens up with a little ice, on-the-rocks is the preferred way to enjoy this.