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SPIRITS OF JAPANLand · Water · Time
ENJA
Cave-like cellar where awamori matures at Taragawa distillery

KUSU

Kusu: time in clay.

Photo: Object In Space / CC BY-SA 4.0

26 September 2026 · Awamori

Since 1 August 2015, only awamori with its entire contents aged three years or more may be called kusu.

All of it, three years

Before the change, awamori could be labeled kusu if more than half had aged three years. An age statement must now reflect the youngest spirit in the blend.

Black koji, all-koji mash

All of awamori's rice is turned into black-koji rice koji, mashed in a single stage with water and yeast, then pot-distilled.

SOURCES

  1. 1古酒の定義沖縄県酒造組合 Okinawa Prefecture Distillers Association · Industry body · accessed 2026-09-26
  2. 2泡盛ってどんなお酒沖縄県酒造組合 Okinawa Prefecture Distillers Association · Industry body · accessed 2026-09-26

PHOTO CREDITS

All image credits →
  1. 1Awamori cellar — Object In Space · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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