"do not laugh at me fordrunkenness on the battlefield; few return from war."
Battlefields and liquor have been inseparable since ancient times; faced with the anxieties of combat, soldiers have often found solace in liquor. Not surprisingly then, the kaoliang liquor produced on Kinmen has an excellent reputation.
Kinmen's distillery, originally known as the Chiulung River Distillery, was established in 1952 and produces a full-bodied, robust kaoliang that is one of the best of the clear liquors. There are a number of reasons for the quality of Kinmen's kaoliang. First is Kinmen's climate, which is continental and produces sorghum with a firm, thick skin. Then there is the water, which has a high mineral content. Finally, the distillery still uses a number of traditional fermenting and distilling techniques. These factors combine to make Kinmen's kaoliang an exceptionally smooth spirit that warms the body, but does not go to the drinker's head.
In its early days, the Kinmen Distillery produced only 50,000 liters of kaoliang a year. Little of this production made it to Taiwan because many of the soldiers based on Kinmen were dedicated tipplers from northern China. The kaoliang that did make it to Taiwan was very expensive, making it still more precious in the eyes of Taiwan's tipplers. Over the years, the application of more modern production processes and the importation of new equipment have raised the distillery's production to 10 million liters per year.
Kinmen's kaoliang is classified as a "Chinese clear spirit"-one of the world's three main types of alcoholic beverage. Repeated fermentations and distillations produce a straightforward liquor that possesses a unity of appearance, bouquet and flavor, like a fresh dawn mist. Its taste is sweet and round, and its touch is pleasing to the palate.
Among the kaoliangs of Kinmen, the best known are perhaps Kaoliang Special and Kaoliang X.O. Kaoliang Special, also known as White Dragon, is the less expensive of the two and is produced in greater volumes-10 million bottles per year. Kaoliang X.O., on the other hand, must be aged for at least five years. This aging produces esters which mellow the flavor, making it rounder and smoother. Kaoliang X.O. is the best of the kaoliangs but is often in short supply. In good years, it can fetch as much as NT$5,000 per bottle, and even at that price there is often none to be had.
Da qu, meanwhile, is a fermented kaoliang produced in small quantities. Made from the first fermentation, da qu has an alcohol content of 16-18%, giving it a fiery character usually only appreciated by true connoisseurs.
"Double pot," on the other hand, is a double-distilled kaoliang also produced in small quantities. While also prized by those in the know, its quality falls short of that of X.O.
According to Mr. Chen, a shift manager at the distillery, following the pattern of other Kinmen products, kaoliang production has been automated, but not fully so; some steps are still carried out by hand for the sake of quality. For example, ingredients are still measured out one scoop at a time to ensure the thorough mix and high degree of saturation necessary to produce an excellent liquor.
Chen says that over the years, the distillery's improvement of its production methods has created a better kaoliang. For example, before there was White Dragon, there was Yellow Dragon, a kaoliang made using liquid fermentation. But the distillery discovered that solid fermentation produced a higher quality beverage, and White Dragon edged Yellow Dragon out of the market.
Chen also reveals that the older a kaoliang, the better it is. He recommends that those buying Kinmen kaoliang put it in the refrigerator for a year or two.
Kinmen's kaoliang, like Kinmen itself, combines southern gentility with northern vigor. While at first glance these two traits might seem to be mutually exclusive, their natural combination on modern Kinmen gives the island its own unique ambiance.
Brew masters at the Kinmen distillery spread the sorghum evenly in the vats so that the cooked product emerges more richly fragrant. （photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang）
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