National Banquet Spirit · Baijiu
Moutai (茅台) Baijiu
Photo: HunagnTwuai / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
A single bottle of aged Moutai has sold at auction for well over a million yuan, making it one of the most valuable spirits in the world.
Moutai is a pungent, sauce-aroma baijiu distilled in Maotai town on the Chishui River, using a fermentation process so specific to the local water and climate that it can't be replicated elsewhere. It shows up everywhere from street banquets to roadside noodle stalls across Guizhou, poured in small ceremonial shots.
Why it's made this way: Its status as China's national liquor and its unrepeatable local terroir have made Moutai and Guizhou practically synonymous.
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