From 12987 to "Growth, Nourishment, and Storage", Langjiu becomes the exclusive code for "The Only Manor Sauce-Flavor Liquor".

40 years, 14,610 days, 350,640 hours.

Since being awarded the title of China's Famous Liquor in 1984, Langjiu has been pursuing "even more exceptional quality" every single day.

This year's Double Ninth Festival, Langjiu once again commenced a new brewing cycle. Steam rises, the sound of sand-turning echoes, and every subtle movement in the brewing workshop reflects Langjiu's deep reverence for traditional craftsmanship and natural laws.

At the Xia Sha ceremony, Mei Gang, Executive Deputy General Manager of Langjiu Co., Ltd., General Manager of the Sales Company, and General Manager of the Qinghualang Business Division, announced: By this year's Double Ninth Festival Xia Sha, Langjiu has achieved a premium sauce-flavor liquor production capacity of 72,000 tons, with aged liquor reserves across different years reaching 265,000 tons. By 2030, these figures are expected to reach 100,000 tons and 500,000 tons, respectively.

Behind this industry-leading production capacity, the world's first premium baijiu estate embodies the unique "Grow, Nurture, Store, and Age" brewing system. This not only provides Langjiu with the space to pursue even more exceptional quality but also imparts its distinctive "Lang flavor" style, giving Langjiu the confidence to transition from a China Famous Liquor to the only estate-made sauce-flavor liquor.

01 72,000 Tons of Production Capacity: A Solid Foundation for Quality

In 1984, Langjiu was recognized as a China Famous Liquor, with an annual production capacity of just over 1,000 tons. By the 2024 Double Ninth Festival Xia Sha, Langjiu's sauce-flavor liquor production capacity reached an unprecedented 72,000 tons. Beyond production capacity, Langjiu has also achieved an "exponential" transformation from sales of less than 500 million yuan to surpassing 20 billion yuan.

Production capacity is the first pillar of a company's quality assurance.

"Ancient brewing methods, modern equipment, and intelligent production"—over four decades, Langjiu's production capacity has multiplied dozens of times, as has its sales scale. Behind this tremendous transformation lies Langjiu's century-long commitment to preserving tradition while innovating.

As Wang Bowei, General Manager of Langjiu Co., Ltd., stated at the event: "Baijiu is an industry built on the value of time. From 1984 to 2024, on the left bank of the Chishui River, what has changed are the brewing and storage conditions, the generational upgrades of products, and the passing down of knowledge among generations of Langjiu craftsmen. What remains unchanged is Langjiu's pursuit of exceptional quality, its promise to consumers, and its determination to go global."

Today, with guaranteed brewing and storage capacity, Langjiu's flagship sauce-flavor products—Hongyun Lang, Qinghualang, and Honghualang—have seen comprehensive improvements in both base quality and aging duration. The aging period for their primary base liquor has been extended to 12 years, 7 years, and 5 years, respectively, with proportions no less than 80%. Each is further blended with aged liquor of no less than 30 years, 20 years, and 15 years, along with various flavoring liquors.

But in truth, Langjiu's inheritance and advancement of traditional techniques, as well as its exploration of brewing and quality, hold even more unique aspects.

02 From the Traditional "12987" to the Unique "Grow, Nurture, Store, and Age": How Was It Achieved?

As is well known, the "12987" process of Daqu Kunsha is the soul of sauce-flavor liquor.

For Langjiu, "12987" is the baseline. While the baseline determines the foundation, Langjiu continues to surpass expectations through diverse storage methods, blending techniques, and scientific brewing.

The China National Geographic research team once provided an answer for the "Lang flavor": It is the three-dimensional left bank of the Chishui River that creates the uniquely flavored sauce-style Langjiu.

On one hand, while adhering to the traditional "12987" process, Langjiu leverages the industry's most comprehensive ecosystem to develop the "Grow, Nurture, Store, and Age" brewing and storage framework. This ensures that base liquor achieves higher quality and a more distinct "Lang flavor" through proper storage at every critical stage.

Grow: Born on the Chishui River. For Langjiu, the first step in quality is raw materials—specifically, the glutinous red sorghum and wheat unique to the southern Sichuan region along the Chishui River. Langjiu has also cultivated the "Lang Nuo Hong" sorghum series, with superior metrics compared to older varieties, better suited to Langjiu's multi-round steaming, gelatinization, and fermentation processes. Langjiu's stringent raw material requirements lay a crucial foundation for premium sauce-flavor liquor.

Nurture: Raised on Tianbao Peak. The first stage involves open-air ceramic jar storage at Shili Xiang Square, where day-night temperature differences provide an ideal environment for raw liquor. This is the first step in Qinghualang's aging secret—strong winds accelerate molecular movement, aiding the volatilization of aldehydes while ensuring thorough and continuous esterification reactions within the liquor, accelerating maturation.

Store: Stored in ceramic jar warehouses. After experiencing the initial growth phase at Tianbao Peak, the liquor enters indoor ceramic jar warehouses, represented by Jinzun Fort. Here, the unique properties of ceramic jars facilitate mellowing and aging, enriching the liquor's body and aroma.

Age: Aged in Tianbao Cave. Langjiu's exclusive Tianbao Cave is nature's gift—a naturally constant temperature and humidity environment, making it an ideal storage site. Thousands of liquor jars, covered in moss, house liquor that undergoes years or even decades of "closed-door refinement" before emerging.

Specifically, Langjiu pioneered four innovations—ecological brewing, open-air storage, natural cave aging, and estate-made sauce-flavor liquor. The "three-dimensional" left bank of the Chishui River creates the only estate-made sauce-flavor liquor.

The China National Geographic research team noted: Langjiu's "Grow, Nurture, Store, and Age" system maximizes the natural environment and gifts of the Chishui River Valley.

By aligning with the geographical features of each layer, every stage of Langjiu's production—from raw grain cultivation, water sourcing, qu-making, brewing, and distillation to open-air storage, jar storage, and cave aging—finds its optimal location. Nature plays a deep role in each step, engaging in a profound dialogue with the geographical environment.

Nature favors Langjiu.

The "Grow, Nurture, Store, and Age" system, anchored by the estate, enriches Langjiu's pursuit of exceptional quality.

On the other hand, Langjiu has also established the industry's first Quality Research Institute complex and released the industry's first "Langjiu Sauce-Flavor Product Internal Control Standards," standardizing and transparentizing the brewing process and driving a monumental leap from traditional craftsmanship to scientific brewing. Beyond this, Langjiu has scientifically refined the "13569" blending technique.

With these buffs, Langjiu not only stands out for its "Grow, Nurture, Store, and Age" brewing system but has also imprinted its own "Lang signature" on the traditional "12987" process. This is also a microcosm of Langjiu's 40-year journey as a China Famous Liquor—from being one of China's two premier sauce-flavor liquors to becoming the only estate-made sauce-flavor liquor.

From China Famous Liquor to the only estate-made sauce-flavor liquor, the core lies in quality. For 40 years, Langjiu has remained steadfast in its adherence to the traditional "12987" brewing process. What has changed is its pursuit of "exceptional quality" as the goal, with the estate as the vessel, innovating while preserving tradition to create the "Lang flavor." With quality as its unshakable foundation, a new chapter for Langjiu Estate on the left bank of the Chishui River is rising.