Red Star Erguotou Baijiu

Warm, spiky, painful

Nose: Ethanol, rice spirit, sweet pickle brine, water from reconstituting dried mushrooms, steamed vegetables and sesame oil. The profile is built around a strong umami presence. Palate: Sweet and somewhat oily arrival. Neutral cereal and earthy vegetal flavours (boiled rice, buckwheat, steamed yams, rehydrated black fungus). The texture is full and arguably the most pleasant aspect of the palate. Finish: Medium. Strong brine and cereal flavours turning just a fraction sour, and a very mild, earthy and almost citric aftertaste. This is the first of three reviews I’ll be doing of baijiu. I’ve already tasted each of the bottles in question and I’m starting with the one I liked least. Red Star is one of the most famous and best selling examples of "ergoutou", a name which translates as “head of the second pot” and relates to the distillation process. To be honest I don’t completely understand this but I don’t think it simply means the same as “double distilled” in the context of western distilling culture. It is hugely popular in Beijing and northern China where a bottle costs just a few dollars, and it is a good example of the “light aroma” style, which is one of the four main aroma types of baijiu. You may have read or heard a description of baijiu as “Chinese vodka” but that is generally incorrect and misleading. However in the specific case of light aroma style baijiu you could describe it as being akin to a flavoured vodka where the flavouring is earthy, funky and coming from the fermentation, and not just the result of adding flavouring agents to neutral spirit. In fact rather than vodka I’d say “Chinese gin” is closer to the mark, if you can imagine a gin where the critical flavouring ingredient is dried mushrooms rather than juniper. The instant I nosed this for the first time the words “Victory Gin” flashed into my mind (in George Orwell’s book "1984" Victory Gin was the only alcohol product available to outer party workers and it is described as having “a sickly, oily smell, as of Chinese rice-spirit”). Baijiu is typically consumed in shots, often in a group setting or at a meal. I found it much easier to take if I followed a shot with a drink of water, which sort of gels with it being something to accompany food. The comments you will probably come across describing this as awful smelling and tasting are exaggerated, and although it is not a spirit that is at all to my taste it is undoubtedly well made. This was by far the least impressive of the three baijiu I will be reviewing (the other two are both "strong" aroma style) and in the final analysis you drink this primarily just to get drunk. Victory Gin, indeed. “Adequate” : 70/100 (2 stars)

The nose is not appealing. But I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor. Sweet and savory with the earthiness of the cereal grain.

Definitely different from European tastes, this baijiu is strong and has a fruity aroma, with a heavy aftertaste.