Kaoliang liquor, Gaoliang liquor or Sorghum liquor is a strong distilled

liquor Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or hard ...

of Chinese origin made from fermented

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

. It is a type of light-aroma

Baijiu ''Baijiu'' (), also known as ''shaojiu'' (/), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of '' qū'' for fermentation to create a distinct and chara ...

. The liquor originates from Dazhigu (, located east of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

), first appearing in the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and is widely consumed across

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...

in provinces such as

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

, and

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

. It is primarily made and sold in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, but is also popular in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, where it is called ''goryangju'' (

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: ;

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: ) or ''bbaegal'' (which originates from the Chinese character ). Kaoliang ranges usually between 38 and 63 percent alcohol by volume. At present, world's highest alcohol content of kaoliang liquor is up to 92% produced by Chyi Leh Wei Distillery () in Taiwan.

Famous brands from Taiwan

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor is one of the most popular brands of kaoliang in

. As its name indicates, it is produced on the island of

Kinmen Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separate ...

. The mainstays of the range are the standard 58 percent and 38 percent alcohol bottlings. Kinmen's kaoliang production traces its roots back to the Chinese Civil War when Chinese nationalist general

Hu Lien Hu Lien (; 1907–1977) was a Chinese Nationalist general who participated in the Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. Whampoa Military Academy He graduated alongside Lin ...

encouraged Kinmenese farmers to grow sorghum to produce hard liquor as importing alcohol from Taiwan caused financial strain. Kaoliang liquor has become an integral part of Kinmen's economy and plays a significant role in the culture of Kinmen. Yusan Kaoliang Chiew () is produced by the

Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL; ), is a state-owned manufacturer and distributor of cigarettes and alcohol, and also formerly (until 2002) a state-sanctioned alcohol beverage brewing and retailing monopoly, in Taiwan. Its most famou ...

. It is named after the highest mountain in Taiwan, Yushan. One of the most notable products in the range is an "X.O." kaoliang aged for five years in tanks before bottling. Matsu Tunnel 88 Kaoliang Liquor () is produced by the

Matsu Distillery The Matsu Distillery () is a distillery in Niujiao Village, Nangan Township, Lienchiang County, Taiwan. History The distillery was originally established in 1956 as Zhongxing Distillery. In 1969, it was renamed to Matsu Distillery. In 1992, th ...

in Nangan Township,

Lienchiang County The Matsu Islands ( or , ; Foochow Romanized: Mā-cū liĕk-dō̤), officially Lienchiang County (, ; Foochow Romanized: Lièng-gŏng-gâing), are an archipelago of 36 islands and islets in the East China Sea governed by the Republic of China ( ...

. The name is derived from the name of an abandoned military tunnel called

Tunnel 88 The Tunnel 88 () is a tunnel in Nangan Township, Lienchiang County, Taiwan. History The tunnel was dug and enlarged by the Republic of China Armed Forces in 1974 to accommodate tanks in the aftermath of Second Taiwan Strait Crisis with the Pe ...

which the distillery took over as storage space for their kaoliang and aged rice wine. All of the distillery's aged kaoliangs are stored in the tunnel for at least five years.

In popular culture

* The 1987

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

film '' Red Sorghum'' is set in a rural ''kaoliang'' distillery in the

province of China. * The

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

Li Kao, from

Barry Hughart Barry Hughart (March 13, 1934 – August 1, 2019) was an American author of fantasy novels. Background Hughart was born in Peoria, Illinois on March 13, 1934. His father, John Harding Page, served as a naval officer. His mother, Veronica H ...

's award-winning novels ''

Bridge of Birds ''Bridge of Birds'' is a fantasy novel by Barry Hughart, first published in 1984. It is the first of three novels in ''The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox'' series. The original draft of ''Bridge of Birds'' is included in a special slip ...

'', '' The Story of the Stone'', and ''

Eight Skilled Gentlemen ''Eight Skilled Gentlemen'' is a novel by Barry Hughart, first published in 1990. It is the third, and final, part of a series set in a version of ancient China that began with ''Bridge of Birds'' and ''The Story of the Stone (Barry Hughart), The ...

'', is named after ''kaoliang''; his mother died in

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births globall ...

while requesting a last drink, and the abbot attending the birth mistook the syllables "Kao...li...kao..." as her intended name for the child. In ''Bridge of Birds'', while telling the story of his birth, Li Kao describes kaoliang as "the finest

paint thinner A paint thinner is a solvent used to thin oil-based paints. Solvents labeled "paint thinner" are usually mineral spirits having a flash point at about 40 °C (104 °F), the same as some popular brands of charcoal starter. Common solv ...

and worst

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

ever invented". * Kaoliang is an important catalyst of the action in the story "New Year's Eve" in Taiwanese writer

Pai Hsien-yung Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai (; born July 11, 1937) is a Chinese writer from Taiwan who has been described as a "melancholy pioneer". He was born in Guilin, Guangxi at the cusp of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Pai's father was the Kuomintang (KMT) ge ...

's short story collection ''

Taipei People ''Taipei People'' () is a collection of 14 short stories written by Pai Hsien-yung in the 1960s, published in 1971 in literature, 1971. The length and art of each story is different, but all these short stories are about people who came from Main ...

''.

References

Baijiu Chinese alcoholic drinks Sorghum {{Drink-stub

Famous brands from Taiwan

In popular culture

See also

References