Baoning Handcrafted Black Vinegar, 20 Year

  Sichuan's Baoning vinegar is one of the Four Famous Vinegars of China and is the vinegar of choice for Sichuan dishes. We are the exclusive importers of three handmade Baoning vinegars, a 3-year blend, a 10-year single-batch vinegar and this super-premium 20 year.  This very small-batch 20-year Baoning is the most complex and fullest bodied the company makes, being richer and thicker though not sweet.  All of the Baoning vinegars are deep red-brown and full-bodied, and the taste is more savory than sweet. The multigrain composition—rice, bran, wheat, corn, sorghum and buckwheat—hits the nose and palate in unfamiliar but intriguing ways. Each of the vinegars has a slightly different mix of the grains, and they all have a very small amount of sugar. No caramel color or flavor additives or preservatives are necessary.  Part of the intrigue also turns out to be the fermentation starter, which, uniquely among Chinese vinegars, is created from more than 60 Chinese spices and medicinal herb