Moutai liquor is named after it is produced in Moutai Town, Kweichow Province. However, this town was not originally called Moutai Town, but Maocao Village.

In the Tang Dynasty in Chinese history, liquor distillation technology appeared almost simultaneously in the northwest and southwest regions of the country. Later, during the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, this common wine-making technology was used to make liquor in Bozhou (now Zunyi), less than a hundred kilometers east of today's Dafang County.

In the 20th year of Wanli of Ming Dynasty (1600), the Zhu Ming Dynasty launched a war to quell the rebellion of Yang Yinglong, the chieftain of Bozhou. Agriculture in Zunyi suffered catastrophic damage. As more than 200,000 officers and soldiers from around the country swarmed in, drinking and feasting, the consumption of Bozhou liquor increased sharply.

The wine shop owners who are relatively concentrated in Maotai Village are forced to use the method of fermenting and distilling the entire cellar fermented grains for multiple rounds, and mixing in some new raw materials in order to make full use of the fermented grains. Starch content, saving sorghum and wheat from insufficient sources.

As a result, a set of basic Moutai production processes of "multiple rounds of sand mixing, fermentation, steaming and baking" was developed in the Maotai Village Liquor Workshop. Since then, various generations of winemakers here have successively created the "stacking process" to fully ferment the new raw materials added between rounds; some winemakers have poured back the poor-quality liquor obtained from the first distillation. The liquid is poured back into the fermented grains to increase the aroma during fermentation again.

As a result, the "sand-returning process" of Moutai liquor production was born. After that, there were technologies for making koji at high temperature, using a large amount of koji, playing koji during the Dragon Boat Festival, sanding in the sand during the Double Ninth Festival, aging and other aspects.

The Moutai production process originated around the 28th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. By the early Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it took more than 100 years to initially achieve perfection, and produced a unique liquor body that has gained a reputation. Far and wide.

Since the late Qing Dynasty, due to the growing reputation of Maotai liquor and the huge increase in population, Maocao Village was renamed Maotai Town.

Extended information:

Moutai is made from wheat, fermented eight times, and stored for two to three years before leaving the factory. Its unique sensory indicators are that the wine is colorless and transparent, with a mellow and sweet aroma when drinking, no suspended solids and sedimentation, a prominent aroma, elegant and delicate, a mellow body, a long aftertaste, and a long-lasting aroma in the empty cup.

The trademark of Maotai Liquor was originally printed with woodblock printing. It was just a few regular script words "Guizhou Province Maotai Liquor" written in a petal-shaped pattern. Later, it was changed to Lianshi paper type printing. Trademark naming: Chengyi Winery is "Shuangde Brand", Ronghe Winery is "Maisui Brand", and Hengshi Winery is "Shanying Brand".

In 1952, it was renamed "Workers and Peasants Brand". After 1954, there were two types of trademarks: domestic sales and export: "Jinlun brand" (also known as "Gongnong brand") for domestic sales, and "Feitian brand" for export. During the Cultural Revolution, it was once changed to "Sunflower Brand", and then restored to "Golden Wheel Brand" and "Feitian Brand", which are still in use today.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Moutai