Baijiu classifications | Wine Silk Road

The twelve aroma types 香型

Four basic types: Sauce (酱香) · Strong (浓香) · Light (清香) · Rice (米香). Derived types: Phoenix (凤香) · Mixed (兼香) · Sesame (芝麻香) · Herbal / Dong (董香) · Te (特香) · Chi (豉香) · Laobaigan (老白干香) · Fuyu (馥郁香)

Baijiu is classified by aroma. China recognises twelve aroma types: four are considered fundamental, and the other eight derive from them. Each is linked to a region, a production method and usually a signature producer.

Starters: big qu and small qu 大曲 · 小曲

Daqu (big qu), usually from wheat · Xiaoqu (small qu), usually from rice

Baijiu is also distinguished by its starter. Most northern baijiu and the strong and sauce aroma styles use daqu, large blocks of qu; rice aroma baijiu and many southern spirits use xiaoqu.

How it is made: solid, mixed or liquid 固态法 · 固液法 · 液态法

National standards GB/T 10781 and GB/T 15109-2021 · 2021

Solid-state (固态法白酒) · Solid-liquid (固液法白酒) · Liquid-state (液态法白酒)

Chinese standards distinguish baijiu by method. Traditional solid-state baijiu is fermented and distilled as a damp grain mash, the method behind every great aroma type. Liquid-state baijiu is made from neutral grain spirit, and solid-liquid baijiu blends the two. Since June 2022, all baijiu must take its alcohol only from fermented grain, without added flavourings.

Quality grades and strength 优级 · 一级

National standards for each aroma type

Premium (优级) · First grade (一级)	High-strength (高度) · Low-strength (低度)

Each aroma type has its own national standard, which sets quality grades based on taste and chemistry and distinguishes high-strength baijiu from lower-strength versions. Most classic baijiu is bottled at 50–55%; lower-strength versions of around 38–42% are common for everyday drinking.

Unlike whisky or cognac, baijiu is not classified by age or region but by aroma type (香型). The system was built by Chinese scientists from the 1970s onwards, starting from the four great families, sauce, strong, light and rice, and growing to twelve recognised types. Each type is linked to a region, a starter, a fermentation vessel and usually a signature producer, so the aroma type on the label tells you almost everything about how a baijiu was made. Within each type, national standards set quality grades, usually premium (优级) and first grade (一级), and distinguish high-strength from lower-strength versions. Since 2022 the rules are also stricter about what can be called baijiu at all: the alcohol must come only from fermented grain, and no flavourings may be added. Two other words are worth knowing. The starter, big qu or small qu, explains much of the difference between northern and southern baijiu. And the method: traditional solid-state baijiu (固态法) is fermented and distilled as a damp grain mash, while cheaper liquid-state and mixed baijiu use neutral grain spirit as a base. The best bottles say 固态法 on the back label.

All styles

Sources

Unraveling variation on the profile aroma compounds of strong aroma type of Baijiu — RSC Advances, 2021
Chinese Baijiu (book contents) — Chemical Industry Press