That in turn has pushed its market value to more than $145 billion, well past British whisky giant Diageo Plc. According to a report by Fortune, ‘Maotai baijiu’s fiery flavour and potential to appreciate in price is driving blistering demand. Today, the share price of Kweichow Moutai Co, Ltd continues to rise. Since then, it has undergone multiple expansions. Buyers regularly spend about up to 900 yuan (£91, 127) for a bottle of Kweichow Moutai baijiu but the price can rise dramatically for rare and good vintages. In the early 1950s, local government merged Chengyi, Ronghe and Hengxing to establish the state-run Moutai Distillery. Maotai or Moutai originated during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) where northern Chinese distillers introduced advanced techniques to local processes to. Exactly when the first formal liquor production sites in the town of Maotai were established is not known, but one source dates a distilling workshop to 1599 during the Ming dynasty. Other Maotai is called Maotai Town baijiu. Like champagne, only the baijiu produced in Maotai Town can be called Maotai, and more specifically only the baijiu produced by Kweichow Moutai Co, Ltd. Moutai is produced in Maotai Town, which is located within Guizhou (Kweichou) Province. Maotai is served at all Chinese state banquets and often presented as a diplomatic gift. It is made from a grain called red sorghum at Kweichow Moutai Co, Ltd, the country’s most famous baijiu (Chinese spirits) distillery. In China, Moutai (or Maotai) is known as ‘the national liquor’.
