Abstract:People have increasing requirements for the yield and quality of liquor as a popular drink. Higher alcohols are a group of major flavor substances in liquor. Moderate content of higher alcohols can endow liquor with a mellow taste and enhance its coordination. Excessive or insufficient higher alcohols will spoil the liquor taste. The liquor with the content of higher alcohols exceeding a certain limit would cause harm to the human body. Therefore，regulating the content and proportion of higher alcohols are of great significance to improve the quality of liquor and promote the healthy development of the liquor industry. The formation mechanism of higher alcohols was systematically introduced and the effects of fermentation process，Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains，and strain breeding on higher alcohols were summarized to provide a reference for the fine regulation of higher alcohols in the industrialized production of liquor.