I'm a little late to the party as usual, but God almighty those forests look FANTASTIC. I definitely didn't hate the earlier version of them either, but the new style really kicks major ass. Thanks a ton for sharing, I'll have to experiment as soon as I get home to my Photoshop!

I guess if I had to critique something, I'd say that the black line on the coastline looks a touch too digital compared to the gorgeous softness of the inland elements - but you did say that you were going to tone it down, so you're probably on that already. What I personally like to do (since actually drawing the line freehand is a little more effort than I'd care), is select the landmask, stroke the selection on a new layer, then make a copy of that layer, use Gausian Blur to blur the copy just a little bit and then put the opacity down to about 50 % and then merge both of these stroke layers together. The blurred copy in there makes the line seem a little smoother, enough that I usually can tolerate how it looks in comparison to element actually drawn freehand (sorry, don't know if that explanation made any sense or if it's even something you're interested in...)

Overall, this map is already looking stunning. I can't wait to see it finished - there's a spot reserved for it in my "Inspiration" folder already!