In the bottle: Right up front, the brandy on the nose is dominate, while sharp at first, it soon fades into some slightly sweet notes of cream soda and/or cherry coke (or for some reason my mind remembers Crystal Pepsi) all of which make it a little hard to imagine there is shōchū in this bottle.

On the rocks: Once this hits the tongue there is an explosion of sherry and brandy that is really brought out from the aging and creates an amazingly unique range of tastes that are both intense in flavor but smooth and easy to drink. There is definitely a nice impact from the wood used, which is stated as Japanese oak, cherry and chestnut but oak seems the most prevalent. 

水割り Diluted with water

4:1, 3:2 ratio, The heaviness of the brandy smooths out nicely and the woody notes really start to open up and come through, I can't comment on the cherry or chestnut but the oak feels young and fresh.