In China’s long history of alcohol, liquor has played an indispensable role. The millennial inheritance of techniques and unique flavors make Chinese liquor (“Baijiu” or Chiew) widely known at home and abroad, and become one of the irreplaceable quintessences of China. This article will introduce the top ten liquor brands in China.
Top 10 Chinese Baijiu
- Top 10 Baijiu Brands Comparisons
- 1. Kweichow Moutai
- 2. Wuliangye (Five Grain liquor Wuliangye liquor)
- 3. Jiannanchun Chiew
- 4. Luzhou laojiao aged liquor
- 5. Fen Liquor
- 6. Xifeng Liquor
- 7. Ancient Wells Tribute Liquor (Gujing Gong liquor)
- 8. Dong Jiu (Dong Chiew)
- 9. Lang Liquor
- 10. Yanghe Daqu Jiu (Chiew)
Top 10 Baijiu Brands Comparisons
| Name | Birthplace | Aroma | Aroma and Flavor |
| Moutai liquor | Renhuai City, Guizhou Province | Jiang-flavored | Clear and transparent in color, with a prominent Jiang (sauce)aroma,soft andrefreshingin mouth |
| Wuliangye Liquor | Yibin City, Sichuan Province | Strongly-flavored | Long aroma and sweet taste in the mouth;Clean and refreshing in the throat, with harmonious flavors, Especially known for its comprehensive taste. |
| Jiannan Chun Liquor | Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province | Strongly-flavored | Soft and mellow, with a slight sweetness and bitterness in the mouth at first, sweet without piercing the throat, and slightly-wheat flavored with a long aftertaste. |
| Luzhou Laojiao liquor | Luzhou City, Sichuan Province | Strongly-flavored | Clear and transparent with an aged cellar aroma, compound multi-level fragrance, exuding a strong aroma in mouth, dense, mellow, and delicate flavor in throat. |
| Fen Liquor | Fenyang City, Shanxi Province | Fragrance | The liquor is crystal clear and transparent, with a fragrant and fragrant aroma, fragrant, sweet, mellow, and refreshing sense in mouth. |
| Xifeng liquor | Baoji City, Shaanxi Province | Feng-flavored | colorless, clear, and transparent, mellow and fragrant, clear but not light, thick but not flashy, integrating the advantages of light and strong fragrance, and sweet and refreshing with harmonious flavors and a clean and long-lasting lingering flavor. |
| Gujing Gong Jiu | Bozhou City, Anhui Province | Strongly-flavored | Clear as crystal, fragrant as orchid, sweet and refreshing in mouth, and long-lasting fragrance in the aftertaste. |
| Dong Jiu | Zunyi, Guizhou Province | Dong-flavored | Rich aroma, sweet and refreshing, slightly comfortable scent of herbs and a refreshing sour taste, with a lingering aftertaste. |
| Lang Jiu | Gulin County, Sichuan Province | Jiang-flavored | striking Jiang flavor, rich and refreshing flavor, elegant and delicate flavor, a long aftertaste, and an empty cup lingers for a long time; Compared with Moutai liquor, its aroma is more fragrant and intense than before with a sense of “strong flavor with the Jiang-flavor”. |
| Yanghe Dauqu liquor | Suqian City, Jiangsu Province | Strongly-flavored | a unique style of tenderness, softness, sweetness, purity, and fragrance; its aroma is pure and elegant with a strong authentic aroma and strong typicality |
1. Kweichow Moutai
Since 1951, Kweichow Moutai, as a leading product of the liquor brand, Moutai, has a long history and profound cultural connotations.
Moutai is a traditional specialty liquor in China, one of the three famous distilled liquors in the world, and the ancestor of Daqu Moutai-flavour Chinese Liquor (. The traditional brewing process of Moutai liquor has also been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
NOTE: Daqu is a hard liquor made with such yeast
Origin: Renhuai City, Guizhou Province
Attributes: clear and transparent color, prominent sauce aroma, mellow and fragrant aroma, elegant and delicate taste, soft and refreshing taste, clear and sweet taste, full-bodied and full-bodied wine, long aftertaste, and long-lasting aroma in an empty cup. People also refer to the unique aroma of Moutai as “the fragrance of Moutai Liquor”. The alcohol by volume of Moutai is stable, ranging from 52°—54°.
Processing characteristics: High temperature making of Daqu, high-temperature stacking fermentation, and high-temperature distilling of liquor.
Main alcoholic beverages: Flying Moutai wine, Five-star Moutai, Moutai Prince Wine, and Moutai Welcome Wine
Brand features: The packaging of Moutai liquor mainly adopts red as the main color. Red is an auspicious color in Chinese traditional culture and a symbol of the CPC (the Communist Party of China). It reflects its close connection with the CPC and revolutionary history, and also symbolizes the dignity of Moutai Liquor and its status as a state banquet.
2. Wuliangye (Five Grain liquor Wuliangye liquor)
Wuliangye Group mainly engages in the liquor industry. Its leading product, Wuliangye (Five Grain liquor Wuliangye liquor), has a long history of more than 4000 years of brewing and profound cultural heritage. It is a representative of China’s strong-flavoured Chinese liquor and a famous national brand.
Wuliangye liquor is the world’s first strong liquor brewed with five types of grains (rice, wheat, millet, bean, and corn) and has been awarded the title of “Nationally-famous Liquor” multiple times.
Birthplace: Yibin City, Sichuan Province
Attributes: Long aroma, mellow taste, sweet taste, clean and refreshing feelings in drinkers’ throat, harmonious and right flavor.
Processing characteristics: Made from the selected grains, clear and fragrant flavor from the use of sorghum, rice-based wine with a mellow and sweet aroma, and glutinous rice produces wine with a pure and sweet taste, the long-lasting aroma of wheat-produced liquor, fragrant and sweet aroma of corn-produced liquor, synthesizing a perfect taste with coordinated flavors.
Main liquor types: Wuliangchun (Five Frain Spring), Liang Mellow, Wulaing Tequ, and Jian Zhuang Liquor.
Brand characteristics: Wuliangye is committed to creating a complete range of liquor brand combinations worldwide, covering low, medium, and high alcohol levels such as 39 °, 45 °, 52 °, 56 °, 60 °, 68 °, and 72 °. A product supply chain system has been formed to meet the needs of different consumers.
3. Jiannanchun Chiew
The brewing history of Jiannanchun Chiew can be traced back to 1500 years ago. Jiannanchun Chiew, along with Kweichow Moutai and Wuliangye, are called “Mao Wu Jian”. Jiannanchun Chiew has been recognized as a time-honored brand in China.
The predecessor of Jiannanchun Chiew – Jiannan Shaochun, as the imperial liquor of the Tang Dynasty, has become a famous liquor of the Tang Dynasty that has been recorded in official history and still exists today. Jiannanchun liquor is one of the eight famous liquors in China and one of the six golden flowers of Sichuan liquor.
Birthplace: Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province
Attributes: Soft and mellow, slightly sweet and bitter at the beginning, sweet without piercing the throat, and fragrant with wheat flavor with long finish.
Processing characteristics: Jiannanchun Chiew uses mud cellar solid-state low-temperature fermentation, especially relying on its unique old cellar.
Main categories of liquor: Crystal Jiannanchun Chiew, Collector’s edition of Jiannanchun Chiew, Jiannanchun aged liquor, Jiannanchun Classic version, and the Imperial Jiannanchun Chiew.
Brand characteristics: The brand of Jiannanchun determines the style of liquor through “seeing, smelling, and tasting”.
4. Luzhou laojiao aged liquor
Luzhou Laojiao, which began in 1573, is a large state-owned backbone liquor-making enterprise based on 36 ancient liquor-making workshops in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it has also become the birthplace of strongly-flavored liquor.
Luzhou laojiao aged liquor is titled as “the founder of strong aroma, the leading liquor brand”.
Birthplace: Luzhou, Sichuan
Attributes: Clear and transparent liquor, quality essence of liquor, aroma after aging, complex multi-level fragrance, the entrance exuding a strong aroma, dense, mellow, and delicate flavor in throat, and rich and sublimated aftertaste.
Processing characteristics: the brewing process of Luzhou Laojiao liquor has a unique microbial system in the fermented grains; the continuous reproduction of fermented grains allows microorganisms to coexist with aromatic substances, forming the process characteristic of “ten thousand years of fermented grains”; it has also achieved the taste characteristics of Luzhou Laojiao liquor with a strong cellar aroma and a soft, sweet and mellow texture.
Main liquor categories: National Cellar 1573, Luzhou Laojiao Tequ, Luzhou Old-cellar High-quality First Qu, and Luzhou Laojiao Second Qu.
Brand characteristics: The overall design concept of the bottle body is “milestone” with “Glory Gold + Chinese Red” as a great country style, the bottle body is adorned with a medal of honor symbolizing the identity of the four famous Chinese liquors and symbolizing that Luzhou Laojiao carries the banner of Chinese famous liquor to create a new era of Chinese famous liquor.
5. Fen Liquor
Fen Liquor is a traditional Chinese liquor brand.
Fen Liquor, also known as “Xinghua Village Liquor”, is a typical representative of light-flavor liquor and has the reputation of “national treasure”.
Birthplace: Fenyang City, Shanxi Province
Attributes: The liquor is crystally clear and transparent and has a fragrant sweet, mellow, and refreshing favor.
Processing characteristics: three unique “koji” must be used in brewing liquor, namely, Qingstubble, Hongxin, and Houhuo koji, which is used in a scientific ratio of 3:3:4.
Main categories of liquor: Xinghua village liquor, Xinghua chun liquor, Baiyu Fen liquor, blue-and-white porcelain Fen liquor, and Rose Fen liquor.
Brand characteristics: The Xinghua Village has a green brewing ecology, and its air and soil contain various substances that are highly beneficial for the growth of Fen liquor microorganisms. Hundreds of micro-organisms live in this village, shaping a base for developing Fen liquor.
6. Xifeng Liquor
Xifeng Liquor Co., Ltd. is the largest national famous liquor manufacturing enterprise in northwest China. Its leading product, Xifeng Liquor, is one of the four most famous old liquor brands in China.
Xifeng Liquor, called Qin Liquor and Liulin Liquor in ancient times, is the ancestor of Feng-flavor liquor and one of the oldest historically famous liquors in China.
Birthplace: Baoji City, Shaanxi Province
Attributes: colorless, clear, and transparent, mellow and fragrant, clear but not light, thick but not flashy, integrating the advantages of light and strong fragrance, and sweet and refreshing with harmonious flavors and a clean and long-lasting lingering flavor.
Processing characteristics: It uses new pit mud fermentation with a short fermentation period (normally 14 days).
Main liquor products: Red West Phoenix liquor, Classical Xifeng Liquor, Colorful Xifeng liquor, Jiuhai Chencang series, “Competition on Huashan Mountain” Xifeng liquor, and National Ceramics liquor.
7. Ancient Wells Tribute Liquor (Gujing Gong liquor)
Anhui Gujing Group Co., Ltd. is one of the eight famous liquor enterprises in China with a focus on liquor. Among its products, Gujing Gong liquor·Year Pulp is a strategic product of this group. It is one of the eight famous brands of liquor in China with a title of “the world leading brand of spirits”. Ancient Wells Tribute Spirits, a strongly-flavored liquor, is known as “peony in wine”.
Birthplace: Bozhou City, Anhui Province
Attributes: clear as crystal in color, fragrant as orchid, sweet and refreshing in mouth, and lingering fragrance.
Processing characteristics: the way to make Ancient Wells Tribute Liquor – “Nine Brewing Method”, certified by the Guinness World Records as the ‘oldest method of distilling alcohol in the world for now’.
Main products of spirits: Gujing Gong liquor·Year Pulp; Gujing Gong liquor Elegant collection, Gujing Gong liquor Good Luck collection, and Gujing Gong liquor Famous Liquor collection.
Brand characteristics: The age of the base liquor used in the brewing process of Ancient Wells Tribute Liquor are no less than five years, and the age of the seasoned liquor shall not be less than ten years.
8. Dong Jiu (Dong Chiew)
Dong Jiu is a famous spirits enterprise in China, and it is also one of the eight oldest famous brands of liquor in China. The production history of Dong Chiew can be traced back to the time before the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (220-589 AD. Dong Jiu Received honors such as “China’s Well-known Trademark”, “Chinese Time-honored Brand”, and “Intangible Cultural Heritage”.
Dong liquor is a typical representative of Dong-flavor spirits. It continuously won the title of “Chinese Famous Liquor” for four consecutive times. Its brewing process and formula are listed as “national secrets”.
Birthplace: Zunyi City, Guizhou province
Attributes: Dong liquor has the rich aroma of Daqu liquor, which is sweet and refreshing, while it also boasts the is soft and mellow flavor ofthe Xiaoqu liquor with a sweet aftertaste; It has a slightly comfortable scent of herbs and a refreshing sour taste. After drinking, it is not dry and delivers a sense of heart burning, and has a lingering aftertaste.
Processing characteristics: Dong Jiu is the only distilled spirits in the world that is fermented with Daqu and Xiaoqu and distilled with double fermented grains; Over 130 natural herbs were added during the Koji making process, bringing the formation of many beneficial trace components for the human body to Dong Jiu.
Main liquor products: Baicao Xiang collection, National Secret collection, Reserva collection, and Lou Shanchun collection, Blue-labelled Dong Jiu, and Red-labelled Dong Liquor.
9. Lang Liquor
Lang Jiu, a Chinese traditional Jiang-flavored enterprise for liquor production. Lang Chiew and Maotai are the national standard setters for Jiang-flavored spirits. It is a well-known brand of Chinese liquor with a long history, and is a newcomer in China’s famous liquor parks.
Lang Liquor is one of the national geographical indication products in China.
Birthplace: Erlang Town, Gulin County, Sichuan Province
Attributes: striking Jiang flavor, rich and refreshing flavor, elegant and delicate flavor, a long aftertaste, and an empty cup lingers for a long time; Compared with Moutai liquor, its aroma is more fragrant and intense than before with a sense of “strong flavor with the Jiang-flavor”.
Main liquor products: Qinghua Lang liquor; Honghua Lang liquor; Lang brand Lang liquor; Huisha Lang liquor.
Brand characteristics: Lang Jiu is divided into five levels based on its quality and taste, namely, premium, superior, first class, second class, and third class. Among these levels, premium Lang Jiu is the best level, while the third class is the poorest level.
10. Yanghe Daqu Jiu (Chiew)
Yanghe is one of the eight brands of Chinese liquor/spirits.
Yanghe Daqu Liquor is a strongly-flavored Daqu liquor, which is considered as the oriental foreign wine, and also has the reputation of “international famous liquor”.
Birthplace: Suqian City, Jiangsu Province
Attributes: Yanghe Daqu liquor has a unique style of tenderness, softness, sweetness, purity, and fragrance; its aroma is pure and elegant with a strong authentic aroma and strong typicality; it strikes a harmonious balance between aroma and fragrance, and the taste is delicate and long-lasting, and tastes sweet in the aftertaste.
Main liquor products: Yanghe Lanyou, 42°Yanghe Celadon, 42°Yanghe Blue Porcelain, and Yanghe Daqu Xin Tianlan.
Above are China’s top ten brands of liquor. Each brand of the liquor is a treasure of Chinese brewing technology, representing the perfect integration of traditional culture and modern craftsmanship. They are not only the leading brands in the liquor industry, but also important representatives of Chinese liquor culture, bearing the enduring heritage of liquor culture in this country.