Acquired Tastes: Moutai!

On our last trip to Hongkong, we were lucky enough to be invited to the palatial Hongkong mansion of Hui Wing Mau, a gracious and elegant gentleman who, to more financially astute personages, also happens to be the Billionaire Builder of China, and chairman of the Shimao Group.

I know it seems odd, but I always feel sorry for the fantastically rich, especially when they seem like genuinely nice fellows. Chairman Mau's mansion, while tastefully appointed, hardly seemed livable. The insurance alone on his many beautiful acquisitions must be sobering reminders of the high cost of wealth.


Anyway, the highlight of the evening spent in his house was neither the many truly remarkable features of his mountaintop hideaway (which boasted a view of Hongkong that was just as good as Victoria Peak), nor the splendid meal that was served (portions of which are lovingly immortalized in my Multiply).

The highlight of the evening came when Mrs. Mau unveiled what I, in all ignorance of the long, ancient traditions involved in the crafting of fine Chinese liquor, the best, and the only, baijiu I have ever tasted: Moutai. We were served Fifty-year Old Moutai, and the experience was singular. Subtle, mellow, and fragrant, it was the real life equivalent of what the culinary ecstasy the anime series Cooking Master Boy tries to depict on a regular basis, and yes, I am insisting that this is one of those times when life should imitate art.


Picture of Cooking Master Boy comes courtesy of Lamont's Cel Gallery.