Named after the town of Maotai in Guizhou province where it originated, Kweichow Moutai has been making baijiu for over 200 years, and . Today, it is he most-consumed hard liquor on the planet, with 18 billion litres made each year.
Baijiu can be distilled from sorghum, wheat, rice, sticky rice or corn. What gives the drink its distinctive aromatic funk – which can be compared to high-ester Jamaican rums – is the ingredient called ‘Qu’, bricks of damp grains that host a mix of yeasts, fungi and microorganisms that starts the fermentation process.
Another key differentiating factor is that baijiu is made by distilling the solids, not the liquid, after which it is matured in ceramic jars to oxidise the spirit and remove impurities over time.
