In the bottle: Strong and pungent, but certainly not in an off-putting way—Kikunotsuyu packs a punch full of awamori goodness. For only 5 years, there is a healthy amount of earthy-clay funk that has both a warming sweetness and a crisp dryness. Similar to the 7- and 8-year bottles, you get a fair bit of caramel and vanilla—not as intense but clearly present. At 41% alcohol and with less time to mature, I expected a bit more punchiness; however, whatever is there stays comfortably in the background and just lets what’s in the bottle shine.

On the rocks: So smooth over ice. While certainly not as sweet as the older bottles of Kikunotsuyu, what is there has a perfect restrained sweetness that never gets too heavy, which creates a perfect balance with the dry earthiness that really backs most of what this bottle has to offer. What really hits are the awamori notes, which are more front and center than the other bottles I have had in this series that are a bit more vanilla, custard, and burnt caramel forward. With the 5-year bottle you get a less mellowed awamori, but that is perfectly OK as what is here is absolutely excellent.

Straight: Kikunotsuyu is smooth and very approachable neat in the glass. This 5-year bottle is full of amazing awamori notes—from mature vanilla, custard, and cacao to earthy, dry clay notes that really bring a great range of flavors into one sip. The finish here is also a standout as the base awamori flows in and out with the 41% ABV alcohol doing a great job to carry both the sweetness and the earthiness through to the end.

Paired with Chocolate: Cafe Tasse dark chocolate. Not a match made in heaven. I forget that these dryer awamori bottles pair much better with milk chocolate as the dryness pulls out all the sweetness from the chocolate. It is not all bad—the finish works well as the alcohol pulls the cacao for quite a while, even mixing in a bit of sweetness once the initial punch is finished.