Following distillation, this Awamori further ripens for three years within the distillery, resulting in a more mellow character in comparison to more youthful awamori. It does retain freshness, and puts focus more on the delicate floral notes characteristic of quality awamori.

Yonaguni
Yonaguni is part of a small group of islands at the Southern most tip from Japan, and is actually located closer to Taiwan (at a distance of 100 km), than to mainland Japan (2 000 km away from Tokyo!). For centuries, it was an important hub for the establishment of relations between China and the Ryukyu Kingdom. It is therefore more than probable that the techniques for brewing Awamori, a distillate that used thai long rice as its base ingredient, were introduced here. Sakimoto Shuzo is one of three producers on the island (which only has 1 300 inhabitants), and has been a reference for authentic Awamori for more than 100 years.