Classification
Chinese fermented wines, or huangjiu, have a wide variety of classification methods, but baijiu are grouped primarily by their fragrance.
- "Sauce" fragrance (醬香; pinyin: jiàng xiāng): A highly fragrant distilled liquor of bold character. To the Western palate, sauce fragrance baijiu can be quite challenging. It has solvent and barnyard aromas, with the former, in combination with the ethanol in the liquor, imparting a sharp ammonia-like note. It has been described as stinky tofu crossed with grappa. To the initiated, it is quite delicious and is considered the perfect complement for fine preserved and pickled foods (醬菜, jìang cài). This class is also referred to as "Mao xiang" (茅香), after the best known wine of this class, Maotai.
- Heavy/thick fragrance (濃香 or 瀘香; pinyin: nóng xiāng or lú xīang): A class of distilled liquor that is sweet tasting, unctuous in texture, and mellow, with a gentle lasting fragrance contributed by the high levels of esters, primarily ethyl acetate. Most liquors of this class are made using Aspergillus type starters. An example of this type of liquor is Five Grains Liquid (Wuliangye, 五粮液) of Yibin.
- Light fragrance (清香 or 汾香; pinyin: qīng xiāng or fēn xiāng): Delicate, dry, and light, with a delectable mellow and clean mouthfeel. The flavours of this distilled liquor is contributed primarily by ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate. An example of this kind of liquor is Fen jiu (汾酒; pinyin: fén jiǔ) of Shanxi.
- Rice fragrance (米香; pinyin: mǐ xiāng): The character of this class of wine is exemplified by baijiu distilled from rice, such as Tri-Flower Liquor (San Hua jiu, 三花酒) of Guilin. This type of wine has long history and is made using Rhizopus spp. type starters ("Small starter"). It has a clean mouthfeel and is slightly aromatic aroma, dominated by ethyl lactate with lesser flavour contributions by ethyl acetate.
- Honey fragrance (蜂香; pinyin: fēng xiāng): A class of distilled liquor with the fragrance of honey. Liquors of this class are subtle in flavour and sweet in taste.
- Layered fragrance (兼香 or 復香; pinyin: jiān xiāng or fù xiāng): A class of distilled liquors that contain the characters of "Sauce", Heavy, and Light fragrance distilled liquors. As such, liquors of this class vary widely in their aroma, mouthfeel, and dryness. An example of this type of liquor is Xifeng Jiu (西凤酒; literally "Western Phoenix Liquor"), produced in Fengxiang (Phoenix Flying, 凤翔) County of Shaanxi.
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