Luzhou Laojiao (泸州老窖; Luzhou Old Cellar) is a Chinese
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 ...
distilled 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
baijiu of the "strong aroma" class. It is produced by Luzhou Laojiao Company Limited, which is headquartered in
Luzhou
Luzhou (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Nu2zou1; Luzhou dialect: ), formerly transliterated as Lu-chou or Luchow, is a prefecture-level city located in the southeast of Sichuan Province, China. The city, named Jiangyang until the Southern and Northern Dyna ...
, in southern
Sichuan, China.
History
The distillery dates back to 1573, in the
Ming dynasty, and it is the oldest continuously producing baijiu distillery in the world.
It was included in the first "List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage" in 2006. The company produces a baijiu brand named Guojiao 1573 (国窖 1573, 'National Cellar 1573'), in commemoration of its founding year.
[
Luzhou Laojiao was reportedly the favourite liquor of China's ]paramount leader
Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...
, Deng Xiaoping.
The company commenced international operations in 2012, concentrating initially on the Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
market but expanding into Africa during 2016–17. In 2018 it was estimated to be worth nearly (US$15.75 billion).
In 2019, Luzhou Laojiao became an associate sponsor of the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
tennis tournament for five years, making it the largest Chinese sponsor in Australian Open history. Court 2 at the tournament's Melbourne Park venue was named the " 1573 Arena", after the company's Guojiao 1573 brand, starting from the 2019 Australian Open
The 2019 Australian Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 14 to 27 January 2019. It was the 107th edition of the Australian Open, the 51st in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam (te ...
.
Product characteristics
Luzhou Laojiao is a complex, premium baijiu of the "strong aroma" (''nóngxiāng'') class.liquid
A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, a ...
with a sharp aroma of fermented peaches.
References
External links
Luzhou Laojiao Company Limited
Companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Companies based in Sichuan
Chinese brands
Baijiu
Government-owned companies of China
Ming dynasty
Luzhou
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