Kaoliang

Kaoliang jiu (Hanyu Pinyin: gāoliáng jiǔ) (literally "sorghum liquor"; often called simply kaoliang or sorghum wine) is a strong distilled liquor, made from fermented sorghum (which is called gāoliáng in Chinese). It is made and sold in both mainland China and Taiwan, and also popular in Korea, where it is called goryangju (hangul: 고량주; hanja: 高梁酒).^[1] Kaoliang is an important product of the islands Kinmen and Matsu which are under the jurisdiction of Taiwan. Kaoliang ranges between 38 and 63 percent alcohol by volume.

Famous Taiwanese kaoliang brands

金門高梁酒 (Hanyu Pinyin: jīnmén gāoliáng jiǔ) is one of the most popular brands of kaoliang in Taiwan. The name simply means 'Kinmen kaoliang' (jinmen/kinmen means Golden Gate). As the name indicates, it is produced on the island of Kinmen. The mainstays of the range are the standard 58 percent and 38 percent alcohol bottlings.

玉山高粱酒　(Hanyu Pinyin: yùshān gāoliáng jiǔ) is produced by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation. It is named after the highest mountain in Taiwan, Yushan/Jade Mountain. One of the most notable products in the range is an "X.O." kaoliang aged for five years in tanks before bottling.

八八坑道高梁酒 (Hanyu Pinyin: bā bā kēngdào gāoliáng jiǔ) is produced by the Matsu Distillery on the island of Nankan, part of the Matsu archipelago. The name is derived from the name of an abandoned military tunnel which the distillery took over as storage space for their kaoliang and aged rice wine. It means "Tunnel 88 kaoliang". All of the distillery's aged kaoliangs are stored in the tunnel for at least five years.

Kaoliang in popular culture

• The 1987 Zhang Yimou film Red Sorghum (紅高梁; Pinyin: Hóng Gāoliáng) is set in a rural kaoliang distillery in the Shandong province of China.
• The fictional character Li Kao, from Barry Hughart's award-winning novels Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen, is named after kaoliang; his mother died in childbirth while requesting a last drink, and the abbot attending the birth mistook the syllables "Kao...li...kao..." as her intended name for the child. In Bridge of Birds, while telling the story of his birth, Li Kao describes kaoliang as "the finest paint thinner and worst wine ever invented."
• Kaoliang is an important catalyst of the action in the story "New Year's Eve" in Taiwanese writer Bai Xianyong's short story collection Taipei People.

See also

• Baijiu
• Chinese wine
• Korean wine
• Maotai

References

1. ^ Korean Goryangju is produced in both North and South Korea, but Koreans also consume Chinese-producted and Taiwanese-produced kaoliang.

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