In the bottle: At first there is an intense earthiness, like something that has been cave-aging for a long time—which of course it has. This bottle of Tatsu was bottled at the end of 2021 after nearly 34 years of cave aging, and the result is quite amazing. After the initial earthy notes fade a bit, you are treated to a refreshing sweetness followed by very mature vanilla, caramel, and something that reminds me of the taste of a well-aged tawny port wine. Truly a piece of Okinawa history in a bottle and worth the price of admission.

On the rocks: Beautifully dry, with very mature mineral notes that settle nicely on the palate once you adjust to the intensity. The typical vanilla, cocoa, caramel, and custard notes are there, just not sweet on the tongue; however, they become a bit sweeter on the finish, adding really nice complexity to this awamori. Drinking this 1988 Tatsu, you can really feel the age and can almost imagine the long walk down into the caves to fetch what is in this bottle. As the ice melts a bit, the sweetness really opens up and mellows the more intense dry notes. The finish is really amazing, as a thick toasted rice appears which is anchored by some bitter cacao.

Straight: Not a lot of words to describe how good this is. I was a bit worried that it was going to be a bit too funky and dry; however, what you end up with is so smooth, and full of vanilla, cocoa, and custard flavors that are just intense. The finish pulls in the pure awamori notes and blends in a nice range of sweetness and caramel which ties everything together. Even at 40%, the alcohol here never gets in the way and does a great job of carrying all the flavors through to the finish.