In the bottle: Nice clean nose that really keeps what is inside a secret. Which, in a way is unfortunate, as this has such a beautiful taste and flavor profile that it would have been nice to have some of these notes carry through. If you give it a good enough inhale, you can catch some earthy and light damp hay notes, which adds some weight to the finish. 

Straight: I am really starting to warm to shochu straight, and Mori no Yousei hits all the right notes without ever overpowering your tastebuds. The big roasted sweet potato flavors are up front and match perfectly with the slight earthy flavors that appear toward the finish, it really reminds me of summer, BBQ (Japanese style not American BBQ) and cracking open some roasted sweet potatoes with my kids at the end of the evening.

On the rocks: The moment this hits the tongue it just screams roasted sweet potato, big, bold, with a sweetness that really up-front before fading to sublime smoothness, this includes a very light but still present fire roasted almost charcoal note on the finish 

水割り Diluted with water

4:1, 3:2 ratio: So smooth, so easy to drink, that initial punchiness gives way, allowing some of the more subtle notes open; however, this is best enjoyed straight or on the rocks in order to enjoy all that this bottle has to offer.