In the bottle: Considering all of the types of sweet potatoes in this bottle, I expected a bit of a bigger nose, but with Hyakusuitan that is not the case; however, what is there is quite nice once it develops a bit. With a little swirling and oxygen you get a lot of dried sweet potato, a bit of sweet vanilla, dried fruits along with hints of floral notes that almost remind me a bit of jasmine and sakura. While this bottle started a bit on the neutral side, there is a nice build-up to a fragrant sweet potato shōchū that creates a nice excitement for what will be in the glass.

On the rocks: The sweet potato impact is amazing—you need a sip or two to adjust thanks to the 35% ABV but once you do a lot of what Hyakusuitan has to offer really starts to shine. First is the blend of five different sweet potatoes which if you are familiar with some of them you can pick them out quite easily, especially the Beni Satsuma and Koganesengan both of which add a nice backdrop for the flavors to develop on. As the ice melts, there is a mash-up of vanilla, cereal grain and just a hint of the floral lavender side on the finish. Overall, this is an interesting bottle that has a lot going on and which needs a few glasses to really figure out.

Straight: Intense sweet potato coats the tongue in an explosion of flavor. There is so much going on that it is almost hard to focus on one specific thing until your palate adjusts. Once it does, the first thing you find is a fresh sweetness followed by a lavender floral and wild flower sharpness and to finish this moves toward some sweeter notes of vanilla, toasted rice and cereal grain. Even with that mash-up, Hyakusuitan works really well neat in the glass and makes for the perfect nightcap to sip on a cool spring evening.

Paired with Chocolate: Cafe Tasse dark chocolate. That is a match made in heaven. The imo shōchū massively expands the cacao while adding some nice liqueur notes that blend perfectly into a perfect chocolate ganache. The finish brings a bit of the cereal grain back in which gives this pairing a bit of a candy bar feel. Really enjoyed this pairing.