Higher alcohols are key factors affecting sensory quality and post-drinking comfort of alcoholic beverages. A strategy combining solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPE-GC-MS) was established to analyze the metabolism pattern of higher alcohols in rat plasma after gavage of 4 common alcoholic beverages including huangjiu, baijiu, wine and brandy. 7 mL of dichloromethane was determined as the optimal extraction condition, and 8 higher alcohols were precisely quantified with detection limits of 1.82−11.65 μg/L, recoveries of 89.07%−110.89% and fine repeatability. The fastest absorption and elimination rates of plasma total higher alcohols were observed in baijiu and huangjiu group, respectively, and the highest peak concentration was found in brandy group. Additionally, the metabolic rate of plasma isoamyl alcohol in huangjiu group was faster than that in wine group at the same intragastric administration dosage. This study may provide potential insight for evaluation of alcoholic beverage quality.