Aroma: I’m guessing Sauce
Horsiness: 3 (but see notes) horses (out of 5)
Burn: 4 flames (out of 5)
Bought at: Gum Wing Lee Luquors, (Chinatown, San Francisco)
Tasting notes:
I bought this from a liquor store in San Francisco. The guy I bought it from said he had nearly every baijiu that was legal to import into the US. I asked him for a recommendation of a baijiu that was similar to Kweichow Maotai, but not $200 a bottle, and this is what he sold me. So I’m guessing this is Sauce Aroma, because Kweichow Maotai is. I’ve never had another Sauce Aroma baijiu, so I can’t really compare.
It’s certainly a different-smelling baijiu, which is why I put the “see notes” suggestion in the horsiness–it has a very strong smell, but it’s not horsey the way other baijius I’ve had have been. Going into it blind, I wouldn’t have said it smelled like soy sauce, but I can see where that would be coming from. It has kind of a rotten fruit smell to me, but not in a bad way, if that makes any sense.
The taste is dry and a little bit salty. Not a lot of complexity until you get to the aftertaste, which is rich and smoky, with maybe a hint of blue cheese.
This is a weird one. Definitely not a baijiu for beginners. I think I’ll want to try more at another time, perhaps in comparison to another baijiu, and judge it again.
Now that I’m further into the glass, there’s definitely blue cheese in the aftertaste.