Liquid gold ????

Did a bit of research on the web and came across a snippet of interesting info on some Chinese liquor I've had tucked away for some 20 odd years, the price of it has skyrocketed to approx 1m yuan for a case of 1985 moutai and 1m yuan for a vintage 1958 bottle on its own in the Chinese auctions !!!! Mines definitely halfway vintage as I received it some 20 years ago by some Chinese delegates working in our country on a foreign exchange ??
Here's some history on it :

Chinese
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Mandarin
Moutai, or Maotai (the former spelling is based on the traditional romanization before Pinyin, and is also used officially by the producing company) (SSE: 600519), is a Chinese liquor, or baijiu.

It is produced in the town of Maotai, in the city of Renhuai, Guizhou province, Southwest China. It is believed that the town of Maotai possesses a unique climate and vegetation that contributes to the taste of the drink. Maotai offers an exceptionally pure, mild, and mellow soy sauce-like fragrance that lingers after it is consumed, is distilled from fermented sorghum and now comes in different versions ranging in alcohol content from the standard 53% by volume down to 35%.


During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Maotai became the first Chinese liquor to be produced in large-scale production with an annual output of 170 tons. In 2007, more than 6,800 tons of Maotai were sold. Maotai is named after the town with the same name near Zunyi in Renhuai, Guizhou Province, where winemaking has a very long history. The Maotai of today originated during the Qing Dynasty and first won international fame when winning a gold medal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. In addition, Maotai was also named a national liquor in 1951, two years after the founding of People's Republic of China. Maotai also claimed two gold medals separately at the Paris International Exposition in 1985 and 1986. Maotai has won 14 international awards and 20 domestic awards since the Chinese Revolution.

Maotai has been used on official occasions in feasts with foreign heads of state and distinguished guests visiting China. It is the only alcoholic beverage presented as an official gift by Chinese embassies in foreign countries and regions. It received additional exposure in China and abroad when Zhou Enlai used the liquor to entertain Richard Nixon during the state banquet for the U.S. presidential visit to China in 1972. It is one of China's official state banquet wines and claims to be one of the world's three best known liquors (together with whisky and cognac) and is therefore presented to all official guests of state.

Maotai current sells over 200 tons of Maotai to over 100 countries and regions across the world.

In 2006, Maotai reported 5.3 billion yuan (about 688.3 million dollars) in sales volume, compared to about 4.2 billion yuan (about 538.46 million dollars) in 2005.

Good job I never opened it eh ???? Saying that I were too scared to try it with the alcohol content in it lol!