In the bottle: Intensely aromatic from the moment you crack open the bottle. To start, there is a deep, honeyed sweetness that sits at the front and is layered with subtle musty hay and gentle earthy tones. After this opens up a bit, you can find some dried fruit (fig and raisin), vanilla, and lightly toasted rice that rise to the surface. The overall experience is rich, slightly complex, and builds a nice anticipation for the first sip 

On the rocks: The first sip opens with surprising intensity, not in a overly bad way, just quite in your face. Additionally, there is a pronounced spicy bite a bit like black pepper that appears at the back of the throat that is accompanies by some subtle sharpness that is hard to pin down. The down side here is that as the ice melts that sharpness dominates the overall experience, largely masking the dried-fruit and vanilla notes and lending a somewhat one-dimensional character. As the ice melts a bit more, the edge softens more and Kofukuro mellows significantly, unfortunately this does not add much to the experience. 

水割り Diluted with water

3:2 ratio: A modest amount of water tempers the peppery bite and allows a portion of the underlying sweetness to resurface; however, the overall profile remains somewhat muted and lacks vibrancy, the end result is rather flat and underwhelming compared to the inviting nose.