I've tasted expensive Baijiu. It's also pretty nasty, possibly even moreso to my taste than the cheap stuff. I think it's one of those machismo things where everyone pretends they like something that is objectively terrible to prove their manhood, or something. Comparable to ultra-bitter IPAs in the west.

My roommate brought some of this stuff back with him when he went out to China a year ago. He told me it gave him the most terrifying nightmares ever, so I've kept it on my shelf and avoided it so far.