Abstract: Vanillin is a very important aroma compound in alcoholic beverages. It has been widely concerned because of its pleasant sweet aroma, vanilla aroma and physiological function. Vanillin has strong polarity and trace in alcoholic beverage, so conventional detection methods are difficult to effectively detect the content of vanillin in alcoholic beverage. Therefore, exploring the analysis method of vanillin in alcoholic beverage has always been a research topic. The cell wall of the raw and auxiliary materials of alcoholic beverage is rich in lignin and ferulic acid, which is an important precursor for the formation of vanillin. It can be converted into vanillin in the brewing process through metabolic pathways such as non oxidative decarboxylation reaction of fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms. In this paper, analytical method, aroma contribution, different content and formation mechanism of vanillin in alcoholic beverage are reviewed, which can provide theoretical reference for the research of vanillin in alcoholic beverage.