Yanghe Haizhilan (Ocean Blue)

Nose: Pineapple, pine-tree ash, peach juice, white bread toast, passionfruit, lemon hand-soap, a hint of jasmine, earth, dry autumn leaves and a whiff of farmyard. Palate: Sweet, unctuous arrival – mouthcoating and fruity with emerging earthy mushroom flavours. As it develops, a dry note appears in both flavor and texture and there is a tingling citric quality. Mango, apricot liqueur, a slight chili catch and black tree-fungus. Finish: Medium/Long: Fruity but turning towards ashy blue cheese in the aftertaste. It maintains an intriguing balance between sweet and dry on the palate. This baijiu is produced by the Yanghe distillery in Jiangsu and it is a good example of strong aroma style. It is not as sweet or heavy as some other strong-aroma types I’ve tried and there is a delicacy and mild astringency to the palate which is very pleasant. Like all baijiu of this style it carries a ton of fruity esters, notably pineapple, stone fruit and citrus fruit, however this one is light of touch and has a delicacy that makes it more immediately approachable than some others. The dry fermentation method used for baijiu employs both yeasts and bacteria, and this gives all baijiu a vaguely kombucha-like aspect, and also makes this spirit an acquired taste for western palates more used to wet-fermentation using only yeasts. However it does not take long to develop a palate for it and to appreciate that baijiu is so thoroughly steeped in the terroir of its regions as to make a joke of the belief that there is any terroir contribution in Scottish whisky. Baijiu literally reeks of the earth from the area where it is made. You need to taste baijiu at least once along your spirit journey. Strong-aroma style is a good place to start and the easiest type to find, and this particular one would be a good choice. Yanghe makes several export products variously named "ocean blue", sky blue" etc and a blue bottle is their trademark. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)