Strong-Aroma Baijiu (浓香型白酒, nongxiangxing baijiu)

Sichuan and the upper Yangtze basin, with Luzhou and Yibin as its centres

Origin

Strong-aroma baijiu is the style of distilled grain spirit most closely tied to Sichuan, where it is made in the Luzhou district and along the upper Yangtze. Its method rests on the long fermentation of grain in earthen pits, a practice carried by the distillers of the region and described in the modern classification of baijiu by aroma. Fuchsia Dunlop, in Land of Plenty, places the spirit on the Sichuan table, where it is drunk at banquets and at the toasts that structure them. The division of baijiu into aroma categories is a modern frame, and the strong-aroma style is the one most often met in Sichuan.

Description

Baijiu is a clear spirit distilled from fermented grain; the strong-aroma style is made chiefly from sorghum, often blended with other grains such as wheat, rice, glutinous rice and maize. A saccharifying starter, daqu, made from wheat, converts the starch, and the mash ferments in long-used earthen pits, from which the style takes its pronounced, fruity, ester-rich fragrance. The mash is steamed in the still, the vapour condensed, and the spirit aged in vessels before blending. It is colourless and usually strong, commonly between 52 and 60 per cent alcohol by volume, and it is drunk in small cups rather than sipped at length.

III

The Thread

—Both are distilled spirits whose character is shaped by long ageing and by blending between batches to hold a house style. Cognac is distilled from wine and aged in oak, whereas strong-aroma baijiu is distilled from fermented grain and takes its fragrance from the pit in which the mash ferments. French

—Both are distilled from fermented grain with the help of a mould-based starter, and both are drunk with food rather than apart from it. Shochu is commonly made with koji and drunk diluted or warmed, while baijiu is drunk undiluted in small cups, usually in toasts. Japanese

—Both are strong clear spirits tied to a named region and to the raw plant that grows there, and both are drunk in small measures at gatherings. Tequila is distilled from the cooked agave, whereas baijiu is distilled from fermented grain. Mexican

Flavour Context

Strong-aroma baijiu is drunk with the rich, oily and heavily seasoned dishes of the Sichuan banquet, where its strength and fragrance meet chilli, Sichuan pepper and fat. Its alcohol carries the numbing and fiery flavours without being buried by them, and the small cup is refilled between dishes in a round of toasts. Dunlop describes the banquet table as one of many contrasting tastes, and the spirit serves as a clean, hot counterpoint between them.

V · Quality Hierarchy

The grain is sorghum, sometimes with wheat and other grains, fermented in old, well-seasoned earthen… The spirit is made by the pit-fermentation method from mixed grains in a single distillery,…

VI · Sensory Tests

smell: Held to the nose, the spirit gives a clear, rich fragrance of ripe fruit, with a deep, fermented undertone…

VII · Where the dish lives or dies

The style lives or dies in the pit fermentation, where the mash must be packed, sealed and left for the full period at a steady…

Pillars V — VII

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