HARMONY 和
n China, the special fragrance and aroma of Moutai were particularly named as "Jiang-flavour", with fragrance and aroma the much, the richest, the most balanced, the many layers and also the most mysterious in the world. "You" ( 酉 ; means Liquor), a magical Chinese character evolved from the shape of ancient liquor utensil, became name and form of liquor in the very beginning; and in Chishui River in Southwest China, time even sublimated it to a unique bouquet: an evolution of "You" to "Jiang" ( 醬 ; means Paste), and that also implied an old and long brewing history of Moutai. The valley of Chishui River where the liquor factory of Moutai is located is just 400 meters more above sea level, but the Dalou Mountains around are averagely over 1,000 meters above sea level; the big difference in heights formed a huge "wine-steamer-like" environment, plus the Chishui River keeps flowing all year round; all those elements therefore created a climate with nice weather and temperature. Hence hundreds of microbes live actively in the factory environment and benefits the brewing process; these invisible and untouchable elves affect the formation of the Jiang-flavour directly.
Four-seasons Brewing During its whole year producing period of Moutai, organic sorghum and wheat manufactured around the river valley area provide essential bouquet contents for this unique "Jiang-flavour". Within a year's time, these two kinds of organic grain experienced the brewing sections like batch feeding, cooking, starter propagation, materials storing, materials adding, stacking, fermenting and distilling etc.; these unique and mysterious techniques are already being inherited for a thousand years. With microbes’ sufficient acting, the liquor enriched by the nature was being brewed in the cellars with different types and processed to mixing after that; when the whole process is done, 5 years has passed. At that time, Moutai is intoxicating enough. The judge in San Francisco World Spirits Competition, cocktail columnist in magazine Malt Advocate said, "Kweichow Moutai is, one of the liquors with the most complicated and interesting texture on the planet, and this valuable opportunity to visit the factory of Kweichow Moutai even assured me the rare preciousness of being that mellow."
The Most Complicated Aroma The main content of this Jiang-flavour liquor with "the most complicated texture" still could not be confirmed. As early as 1982, Japanese scholars used the Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method to analyze the bouquets of Moutai, and resulted that there are 230 kinds. A long-term scientific study shows Moutai has more than one thousand kinds of volatile and non-volatile components, and volume of different types of aroma are all comparatively higher. Beside the fragrant materials like ester, alcohol, aldehyde and acid, it contains other materials which are good for health like natural pyrazine, natural homofuraneol, 5-HMF and coumarone etc., which are also very important for forming the unique
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MOUTAI Magazine
Jiang-flavour. You may say, Jiang-flavour liquor is the grain distilled spirit with the most complicated aroma in the world, and Moutai as one of them has the best quality. Feature video "Chishui in nature" filmed by CCTV, China displays the beauty of Chishui River and Moutai liquor making, lofty mountains set against the serpentine course of the river, amazing like a painting. And now, Moutai has brewed not only a long lasting Jiang-flavour for more than 2,000 years, but has recorded a scroll of ancient Chinese liquor culture.