Japanese

泡盛: Various brands of awamori for sale in Ginza, Tokyo.

Noun

泡盛 ‎(hiragana あわもり, romaji awamori)

1. awamori, a kind of rice whiskey

   Awamori is an alcoholic beverage indigenous to Okinawa, Japan, also produced somewhat in Kyushu. Much as beer is made by fermenting barley, and whiskey is made by distilling that fermentation, so is sake made by fermenting rice, and awamori is made by distilling that fermentation. Similar to 焼酎 (​shōchū), but typically stronger -- while shōchū is usually around 24-25% alcohol, traditional awamori is more commonly 30-40%, or even stronger.

References

1. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9