Lay Mau 1978

In 1951, the Chinese government decided to produce Kweichow Moutai on a large scale to increase revenue for the country. To achieve this the 3 leading distilleries Chengyi (founded in 1863, brand Hua Moutai, purchased for 13.000 Yuan on November 8, 1951), Ronghe (founded in 1879, brand Wang Moutai, confiscated October 1952) and Hengxing merged into the Kweichow Provincial Monopoly Company Renhuai Moutai Distillery (a.k.a. State-owned Moutai Distillery), owned by the newly formed Communist government.

Hengchang, founded by Zhou Bingheng in 1929, was sold to Lai Yongchu from Guiyang in 1941 and renamed Hengxing. From that moment the wealthy Lai family, along with the Hu and Wang families, dominated the market in Maotai town. The brand name for Hengxing's moutai became Lay Mau, with its registered trademark of the mythical bird Roc, designed by Hu Wensei. From 1943 labels were printed at Hu Wensei's Shilun Printing Factory in Guiyang.

Hengxing is said to have resumed production in the 1980's and sued Kweichow Moutai Co. Ltd to reclaim ownership of the brand Lau May but this was rejected. Hengxing continued producing a small quantity of Moutai until Kweichow Moutai started using the brandname themselves, which was in 2014.

This very rare bottle was released on 1st October, 1978, a significant day as it commemorated the 39th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, and several years before the Hengxing is said to have resumed production. We have not seen a bottle alike anywhere anytime.

Content 500ml - volume 53%