Mention baijiu and many foreigners will turn up their noses at the fiery

Chinese liquor.The white spirit, a mainstay

at marathon ganbei toasting sessions and up to 60 percent alcohol by volume, packs a for-midable punch.

China’s national liquor Moutai is distilled to 53 per-cent. But the drink is far from rough — it is renowned for its rich, mellow taste and soft “sauce-scented” bouquet.

Serving Moutai is expected at lavish Chinese banquets. It is often o+ ered at high-level func-tions or presented as luxurious gifts to o, cials and superiors. A 500ml bottle of its popular Flying Moutai range can cost about 1,000 yuan ($163). The listed Kweichow Moutai Co had more than 40 billion yuan in sales in 2013, an increase of nearly 14 percent from the previous year.

But even China’s iconic spirit is facing mounting challenges from lower growth and the impact of government mea-sures to rein in opulent activi-ties involving o, cials.

Moutai’s honorary chair-man, Ji Keliang, said now might be the time for the liquor giant to break the mold so it can continue expanding by tapping more into the glob-al market.

That could mean pushing for a major change — by o+ er-ing a version with a lower alco-hol content to make it more palatable to foreigners.

“Everyone knows Moutai is 53 percent alcohol by volume and that’s an integral part of its character,” Ji said.

“But that might seem too high for foreign consumers, who could be more used to spirits in the 40 percent range.”

Ji has been at Moutai for fi ve decades and has also led the group on quality and tech-nical issues. The 76-year-old said lowering the alcohol level would be a clear sign of the company’s resolve to develop in line with consumer tastes.

“We need to cater to foreign tastes. We need to listen to the needs and demands of our con-sumers. We need to fi rst intro-duce them to the strengths of our product, then they can slowly take to it.

“Over here, we’re used to knocking back shots of liquor in groups. For many foreigners, drinking quality spirits might be more about sipping, twirl-ing, appreciating and enjoying it in their individual settings. So we also need to attune our-

selves to these habits and adapt accordingly to sell the benefi ts of Moutai in that context. That most certainly includes lower-ing the alcohol,” he said.

“If they like 53 percent, we’ll push that. If they like 40 per-cent, we should push for that too.

“We need to change how we appear to the international market. We need to observe and research the way for-ward.”

Ji was speaking at the com-pany’s headquarters in Maotai, the town deep in the heart of Southwest China’s Guizhou province. The area boasts an unsullied and protected cli-mate that is extremely con-ducive for producing the top-rated liquor.

Going globalIn recent years, Moutai has

been stepping up e+ orts to go global and extend its reach from this exceptional enclave.

It already has a growing network extending from Asia to North America, Europe, Australia and major duty-free stores worldwide.

The company exported near-ly 1,000 tons of liquor in 2013 that generated sales revenue of more than $160 million.

There are also increasingly encouraging signs on Moutai’s road to international recog-

nition. In 2012, it won a gold medal at the World Spirits Award event, placing it among the best liquor globally.

But more needs to be done to ride out the trying times in the industry, Ji said.

The company said it was low-ering its sales target for 2014 to 43.9 billion yuan. At 9 percent growth, it marked the fi rst time it had projected a single-digit increase in the past fi ve years. Earlier in the year, it said it was looking forward to 12.5 percent growth by raking in more than 45 billion yuan in sales.

“Yes, there are challenges facing Moutai, but whether it’s in 2013 or 2014, among the branded liquors, Moutai experienced the least negative impact,” Ji said.

“Based on the latest Septem-ber fi gures, sales volume in the industry has fallen signifi cantly. Moutai’s, on the other hand, has continued to increase, but not much — less than previously.

“That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any impact. We will seriously study our chal-lenges. We still need to go big, we need to continue moving forward and to develop.

“Our leaders have a tough job, but they are very compe-tent. We’ll need their capabili-ty, our workers’ knowledge and the tradition of quality passed down from our predecessors to move ahead.”

Drinking to healthTo help do all of that, Ji said

Moutai has another advantage that sets it apart from other Chinese liquors — its health benefi ts.

“Ordinary Chinese consum-ers all know the benefits of drinking Moutai. But foreign consumers might not yet,” Ji said.

“People say imbibing drinks with high percentages of alcohol will harm the liver. Moutai contains more than 1,000 kinds of ingredients. Some help mitigate the nega-tive e+ ects that alcohol might have on the liver.

“I’ve been studying and ana-lyzing the qualities of Moutai for a long time. One of the things I’ve found out is the amazingly complex combi-nation of its ingredients that come together to reduce any negative e+ ects of alcohol con-sumption,” he said.

“We have documented evi-dence that shows drinking Moutai is not harmful to the body. We have workers here who are in the pink of health. For instance, we have carried out medical checkups on our

employees and those who drink Moutai have not report-ed any liver ailments.

“There is one case, of some-one who did su+ er from liver disease. But he was drinking heavily when he was younger and before he was introduced to Moutai, and was drinking many di+ erent types of alcohol at that. His liver was already damaged,” Ji said.

“I still drink Moutai myself now. My capacity for alcohol is very low. Few people in my family drink. When I arrived in Moutai, I would often fi nd it hard not to drink in the course of my work, when testing the quality of products and enter-taining guests. I’ve drunk about 2 tons of Moutai in my life. Now, I can drink a little less than 100 grams a day,” he said.

“I’ve never suffered from any liver or stomach ailments. None of my medical checkups have come up with any inci-dence of fatty liver.

“Many people who have drunk other types of alcohol suffered from fatty liver but actually became better after switching to Moutai and drink-ing it for some time.”

There is yet another advan-tage China’s national liquor has over other strong spirits, Ji said.

“One of the most important aspects of Moutai is that, those who get slightly intoxicated

from drinking it … enjoy a very comfortable ‘fl oating’ feeling of inebriation. There’s no head-ache, you sleep well at night and wake up refreshed and extremely clear-headed the next day for work. Other types of baijiu or Western drinks can’t give you that.

“There was a once a West-ern liquor businessman who came here and I deliberately made him drink in excess. The next day I asked him ‘Were you drunk? He replied ‘yes’.

‘Got a headache?’ he said, ‘No headache. ‘Will you get head-aches from drinking too much of your liquor? He said ‘yes’. I admired his honesty.”

Whether it is enjoying the taste or experiencing the after-effects, all these add to the inimitable characteristics of Moutai, Ji said.

“Our unique circumstances are behind our unique prod-uct.

“Through its use of local grain, reliance on the weath-

er, local water resources and traditional fermentation and distillation techniques, the production of Moutai and its deep cultural roots refl ect the unique characteristics of Chi-na’s agrarian tradition.”

“There’s still a lot we don’t know about the magic behind the benefi ts of Moutai. I’ve stud-ied this all my life, but there’s still some way to go,” Ji said.

“The next few generations might still not be able to unrav-el its mysteries.”

We need to cater to foreign tastes. We need to listen to the needs and demands of our consumers.

Ji Keliang, Honorary Chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co

Making Moutai for the world China’s national liquor needs to cater to international tastes, said the company’s honorary chairman, Alexis Hooi reports.

By RICHARD LIM

I am a whisky man. For the past several years, I have been drinking at least two glasses of Johnnie Walker Black Label — with ice and water — every day.

Whisky is a liquor one can drink alone, in one’s home or

at a counter in a bar. It doesn’t need company, although it can serve as an e+ ective social lubricant at gatherings like any other spirit.

I have been pretty much a recluse since I turned the big 6-O. I don’t go to the cinemas or to pubs and clubs. I watch movies on DVDs at home, and

I read. And there’s always time set aside for the slow enjoy-ment of whisky — in the mid-afternoon or in the evening just before dinner. It often takes me about half an hour to fi nish two glasses. One rumi-nates while one drinks.

I have continued my habit since I came to Beijing three

months ago. One of the first things I found out when I went into the neighborhood 7-Elev-en is that it sells — what joy! — Johnnie Walker Black Label, among other brands of Scotch and other liquors like rum, gin and vodka.

Last month though, I discov-ered a liquor that I actually like better than whisky. I was part of a nine-strong China Daily team that visited Moutai town in Guizhou province to attend the distillery’s annual celebra-tion of a new production cycle. We fl ew to Guiyang, the prov-ince’s capital, then endured a four-hour bus ride to Renhuai, the city next to Moutai, where we were put up for the night in a fi ve-star hotel.

But before we repaired to the hotel, there was the wel-come dinner hosted by the good folks from the Moutai communications department and their public relations rep-resentatives, including two attractive lasses who proved to be most helpful over the next two days when we were there.

The local Guizhou dishes were delicious, but what we guests apparently enjoyed the most was Moutai. The precious

liquor (the wholesale price for a 500ml bottle of a fi ve-year-old Moutai is 1,000 yuan) was served in glass thimbles, and we would toss back a shot with each toast, or ganbei. We would toast one another at every opportunity, and even go from table to table. And what can I say? I absolutely love it! It makes one happy and convivial.

It has a soya sauce fragrance, and has a taste unlike anything else I have drunk. It goes down the throat smoothly, with a sensation of warmth, and has a lingering aftertaste that I can best describe as mellow. It is certainly not like sake or the other Chinese baijui, or white spirits.

Over the next two days, in between our work schedules, we had sumptuous lunches and dinners — and not a small amount of Moutai.

The thing is, as the Moutai people are proud to boast, you don’t get a hangover, although the alcohol content is 53 per-cent, a very high number indeed. If the company’s inde-pendent scientifi c studies are to be believed, the liquor actu-ally protects the stomach and

liver when other alcohol tends to damage them.

Deng Qingqing, 28, a man-ager at the plant and a certi-fi ed taster, showed us how to appreciate it.

First, you look at its color through the glass. It should be transparent, which shows that it has no impurities. Next, you swirl the liquor in the thim-ble. It should have “legs” or, as an English colleague told me, “drapes”, which means the liquor should fall down the glass’ surface slowly. There should be a certain viscosity.

Then, you sni+ it. What you smell is personal — it can smell of flowers or soya sauce, for example.

You take a sip and taste it with the tip of your tongue, then the sides and afterwards the back of your tongue. It should taste sweet at the tip of your tongue, sour at the sides and bitter at the back. Your taste buds are made to detect these tastes on the different parts of your tongue. Finally, toss it back down your throat. It should glide warm and smooth down your gut.

But I’m not one for such niceties. Like the rest of my col-

leagues, we simply tossed back the drink when we ganbei.

Now back in Beijing, I remember the Guizhou trip with fondness. I will certainly like to have Moutai again. But there are two problems. First, it is hard to fi nd a store that sells it and there are fakes out there. Second, you need to fi nd the right company to drink it with. It’s not a liquor to drink alone.

For now, I’ll just have to set-tle for my daily whisky.

Since premier Zhou Enlai picked it as the liquor of choice at the banquet celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Moutai has been the country’s national liquor. The Chinese rank it among the top three liquors in the world, alongside Scotland’s whisky and France’s brandy.

If I may be permitted to o+ er a suggestion to the Kweichow Moutai Co, it is that they should promote the brand more aggressively in the inter-national markets so that there is greater awareness of it and make it more easily available, although of course it must not compromise on its premium value.

Warm response from a dedicated whisky man

Moutai executives prepare to take their annual oath to produce a superlative product during a ceremony at the Moutai Liquor Festival last month. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

Despite the use of ancient techniques in fermentation, Mountai has modernized its production line to meet the needs of globalization. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

Deng Qingqing, a certifi ed taster and plant manager at Moutai, tells visitors how to drink and appreciate the country’s top liquor. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

Moutai special 7CHINA DAILY Monday, January 12, 2015