In the bottle: To start, there is a really nice earthiness that pours from the bottle, it's a like wet stone with some musty notes on the back end. Once this opens up a bit, you get these beautifully smooth and fresh awamori notes; all the key components are there, vanilla, caramel, custard, toasted rice and cocoa, which gives this 26 year Uminokuni some nice complexity. 

On the rocks: What hits the tongue is a perfect marriage of earthy and sweet, those vanilla, caramel, custard, toasted rice and cocoa notes flow in and out in a wash of Awamori amazingness. At 43% is never feels heavy and the alcohol really helps to spread out the remaining flavors on the finish which is refreshingly dry. As the ice melts you are treated to an ever evolving glass of Awamori, the earthy notes expand giving a range of aged flavors with the sweeter notes taking a bit of a back seat. 

Straight: So smooth, just like on the rocks, you start of with a hit of funky earthiness that quickly fades into those beautiful sweet, those vanilla, caramel, custard, toasted rice and cocoa notes that just fill the entire palate. The 42% alcohol does a great job to carry the key flavors of this well-aged Awamori and never oversteps its bounds or gets in the way; neat in the glass is an excellent way to appreciate and enjoy this masterpiece.