In the bottle: At the crack of the bottle, there is a beautifully fragrant burnt caramel sauce with vanilla on the front end and at the back there are ripe cherries and toasted rice, just sublime. If you nose this a bit too hard, you will find the alcohol, but that is to be expected at 43%; however it is not off-putting and adds another layer of complexity to this amazing Awamori.

On the rocks: Uminokuni comes in thick, sweet and powerful; all of those beautiful notes on the nose are front and center and full of impact which can be a bit overwhelming on the first sip. However, for as heavy as it feels in the mouth, it still remains easy to sip and only gets smoother as the ice melts. The 43% alcohol adds a good level of complexity as it has is a nice bite on the backend that reminds me of cracked black pepper and almonds or more like the skin on the almond which has a slight nutty bitterness.  

水割り Diluted with water

4:1, 3:2 ratio, While I did not specifically try diluting this down, I did let the ice melt down quite far; overall it was very similar to on-the-rocks, just a bit more mellow. Given the range of high-impact notes, I really preferred this at its maximum intensity.

Enjoy straight or on the rocks