In the bottle: Maybe not as bold as some other bottles but you still get a really nice range of cocoa, vanilla, caramel and toasted rice; certainly a lot of the familiar beats I have found with Rokuchōshi. While not uncharted territory in terms of profile; the nose is really fragrant and inviting, which is exactly what you want in a reasonably priced shochu.

On the rocks: Amazing burnt caramel with a soft vanilla on the back end to start, followed by some toasted rice and some sweeter slightly grainy notes that remind me of Oh's cereal (at least my memory of it). Overall, Rokuchōshi is incredibly smooth and easy to drink on-the-rocks, with a subtle sweetness that balances out some of the initial sharpness of the burnt caramel making this something you can go back to again and again.

Straight: Beautifully smooth, this 7yr Rokuchōshi strikes a nice balance between sharp and sweet, with the burn caramel playing more on the sharp and the vanilla filling in the sweet side. The finish is also quite nice, with some soft cocoa and vanilla flavors that hang round for a bit before fading out into some toasted rice and that distinct Rokuchōshi rice shochu flavors.