In the bottle: Bright and full of sweet potato goodness right from the crack of the bottle, setting Akarui Nōson on a beautiful path to being a perfect summer shōchū. The initial sweet potato profile is backed by a range of subtle notes like mature vanilla, a bit of broken sapling branch freshness, and toasted grain. It has a nice smoothness that develops well once you get some oxygen in. Overall, this is exactly what I am looking for on a hot June night in Hiroshima.

On the rocks: Fresh is the theme of this bottle from the nose to neat in the glass—you can feel it at every level. Right from the start, the first sip that hits your tongue is bright with a delicious sweet potato bite that sets the stage for a bit more to develop as the ice melts a little. Once Akarui Nōson opens up a bit more, some of the softer notes come forward: mature vanilla, a bit of cacao, and to my surprise a very fragrant lavender-like wildflower bite on the finish. (Neat in the glass this came across more as a prickly pepper, but on the rocks it opens up to something completely different.) Overall, this has been a perfect match for the coming summer, and I look forward to trying some more bottles from Kirishima Town Distillery.

Straight: Intensely fresh and bright with an absolutely smooth sweet potato vibe that combines a bit of sharpness and a bit of mature sweetness to give you a great shōchū to sip slowly. The back end here has some prickly pepper in the back of the throat which gives Akarui Nōson a bit of spiciness to balance everything out. The finish is also something to really enjoy as the sweet potato notes are really present and up front and provide a nice backdrop for the softer flavors of mature vanilla and grain to really carry through.

Paired with Chocolate: Tonny's Chocolonely 70% dark. Another perfect match. Akarui Nōson really expands the cacao and pulls in some nice cherry liqueur vibes and a bit of the prickly pepper that really elevate the total experience. While this does not bring a lot of “new” to this pairing of chocolate and sweet potato shōchū, it certainly does everything possible to ensure that you remember this was a great one.