The Japanese made Japanese whisky into a hit, and there were still two strokes.
Correct Answer Bureau Listing
There is a saying on the Internet.
This Moutai wine can not be grabbed in China, although the suggested retail price is only 1499 yuan, but the real to get the hand is basically 3000 yuan.
But some people in foreign supermarkets found that Feitian Moutai only sold more than 2,000.
One important reason is that foreigners are not very accustomed to drinking.
In fact, Chinese wine is not too smooth to go abroad now.
For example, in the first half of this year, our country's cumulative exports of alcohol were only 729 million US dollars.
China's liquor exports in recent years
In contrast, Japan has given us a lot of inspiration in this regard.
Especially in the past two years, Japanese whisky has been a real fire, and the price has become higher and higher.
In June this year, a whisky owned by Suntory Liquor, "Yamazaki 55 Years", sold for a sky-high price of $600,000 in New York, USA, which translates into more than 4.3 million yuan!
One bottle can be exchanged for a suite in a second-tier city in China!
This shows the high popularity of Japanese whisky.
Moreover, whisky was not originally Japanese sake.
Why does Japanese whisky explode? What kind of business is hidden behind it?
When it comes to whisky, the first impression always comes to mind Scotland, the home of whisky.
This area is equivalent to the British region of Chongqing, China, and is home to 139 whisky distilleries, large and small.
But in recent years, Japanese whisky has been in the limelight more than Scotland.
Japanese whisky has not only become more famous year by year, but also won awards, and the price has also risen.
There is even a hot situation of "hard to find a wine" that money cannot buy!
In 2018, Suntory's Yamazaki 50 Years was auctioned for $343,000 (about 2.4 million yuan), making it the most expensive single bottle of Japanese whisky ever.
Less than a year, in 2019, this record was set by "Yamazaki 50 Years" itself.
At the Taipei Love Ao Spring Auction, the first edition of "Yamazaki 50 Years" was sold for NT$13.51 million (about more than 3 million yuan)
In 2022, Yamazaki further raised the record for the most expensive single bottle of Japanese whisky to a height of $600,000 in 55 years.
The price record for a Japanese whisky set is equally impressive.
The Japanese brand "Hanyu Ichiro Playing Cards" series consists of 54 bottles of whisky and 54 playing cards.
Because it is sold in limited quantities, it is said that only five or six collectors in the world can successfully collect a set.
In 2015 and 2019, a complete set of "playing cards" series was auctioned in Hong Kong, which sold for HK$3.79 million and HK$7.19 million respectively. Twice broke the world auction record for the Japanese whisky series at the time.
In November 2020, another set of playing card series was auctioned, and the result was sold for 11.89 million Hong Kong dollars (nearly 11 million yuan), which greatly set a record and became the most expensive set of whisky in auction history.
It's not just rare auction prices that have skyrocketed.
Even the price of ordinary Japanese whisky, which can be bought online, has soared in recent years.
Take Suntory's Yamazaki 12 years, the current price in Japan is about 24,000 yen (more than 1,100 yuan), and the price of domestic e-commerce is around 2,500 yuan.
Ten years ago, in 2012, Yamazaki's price in Japan in 12 years was only 6,239 yen, and according to the exchange rate at that time, it was almost more than 500 yuan.
In ten years, the price of a bottle of wine has risen 4 times, and even Moutai has to call big brother when he sees it.
This is still Yamazaki's basic model.
For limited editions, prices go up and down.
This investment rate is also completely good for the benchmark property market, no wonder some people say that buying a house is not as good as buying Yamazaki!
Don't look at Japanese whisky in recent years, in fact, more than a decade ago, no one bought it at all.
As mentioned earlier, the Hanyu Distillery, which was auctioned for a sky-high price, was forced to stop production in 2004 due to poor management.
No one had expected today's pomp and circumstance.
So thousands of bottles of whisky, is it an IQ tax?
How did Japanese whisky get to today's high price?
First of all, the Japanese made up a moving story for Japanese whisky.
A powerful story can change people's value judgments about a thing.
The story of "a diamond lasts forever" is the best business case.
Similarly, Japanese whisky has a widely spread product story, and that is the history of Japanese whisky.
When it comes to the history of Japanese whisky, two people are inseparable.
On the left is Shinjiro Torii, and on the right is Masataka Takezuru
One is Shinjiro Torii, the first owner of Suntory Distillery, and the other is Masataka Takezuru, the father of Japanese whisky.
The relationship between the two can be described as the boss and the chief winemaker, one is responsible for the market and the other is responsible for research and development.
In his early years, Shinjiro Torii had experience in successfully making wines.
In the mid-1920s, Torii's wines had a market share of more than 60% in Japan.
Success in the wine market gave Torii the confidence to challenge another large line of foreign wines, whisky.
At that time, whisky was completely imported, and no one in Japan would make it.
Just when Toi didn't know how to start, he hit it off with Masataka Taketsuru, who had returned from his studies in Scotland.
Masataka Takezuru was also born into a family of brewers, because he was not the eldest son and did not have the right to inherit the family business.
So he left his hometown and went to Scotland to learn the real whisky-making techniques.
During his internship in Scotland, the attentive Masataka Takezuru meticulously recorded the whisky brewing process, the details that needed attention, and the material and structure of the brewing machine.
This is the famous "Bamboo Crane Notes".
With Toi's capital and Takezuru's technology, the two soon built a brewery in Yamazaki, southwest of Kyoto.
It is also the Yamazaki Distillery, Japan's first whisky distillery.
Yamazaki Distillery was founded in 1923
Takezuru was appointed as the head of the factory, from design to construction.
It was in 1929 that Yamazaki Distillery's first whisky, Shiraza, was launched.
Unexpectedly, the release of this first whisky not only did not improve sales, but also directly caused the parting of Toi and Takezuru.
It turned out that the bamboo crane wanted to create the most authentic Scottish style, with a strong smoky and peat flavor.
Who would have thought that the Japanese would not be accustomed to drinking this "heavy-tasted" foreign wine at all.
As the boss of Toi, his idea is to add a little sweet, add a little water, and make it a good bite according to the Japanese own taste.
Zhu Crane felt that I had worked so hard to study in Scotland for so many years, and my daughter-in-law was married to a Scotsman, just to make the most authentic whisky.
So Takezuru headed north to Yoshi, Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost city.
Due to its high latitude, low temperatures, and dense forests, this is the most Scottish place in Japan.
In 1934, the whisky distillery belonging to Masataka Taketsuru was officially established and named NIKIA, the Nikko Whisky Company.
Today, Nichigo and Suntory have formed a pattern of double-peaked confrontation between Japanese whisky.
Suntory's flagship products include Yamazaki, Hakushu and Hibiki.
The Nichigo Group's signature whiskies are Yoichi, Miyagikyo and Takezuru.
The spirit of craftsmanship, crossing the ocean, not forgetting the original intention, these keywords are not very familiar, very Japanese?
That's where the promotion of Japanese whisky began.
Since it is Japanese whisky, it is natural to have some unique "oriental Zen charm".
This brings us to the Japanese Mizura wooden barrels.
It should be known that the flavor of whisky mainly comes from two aspects, one is the taste of the original wine, accounting for 3 points, and the other part is the taste of the barrels used for aging, accounting for 7 points.
Freshly brewed whisky is spicy and not suitable for the mouth, so it must be aged in wooden barrels for several years before drinking.
Traditional whisky is made in sherry barrels or oak barrels, which are generally imported from North America and Europe.
During World War II, the West cut off this supply.
But the order has been taken, and the Japanese Navy also particularly likes Suntory's whisky. So we had to look for alternatives to Japan.
Among the Japanese rations captured by the U.S. Navy was Suntory whisky
In the end, Mizu Narayaki was found in Hokkaido, but at the time, Mizu Naragi was not a good idea.
Because it is not well sealed and easy to run wine, the flavor brewed in the first few years cannot be compared with sherry barrels and oak barrels.
So as soon as the supply was restored after the war, the Japanese threw the barrels of water and narays aside.
Unexpectedly, after another 20 years, when people found these long-forgotten Naraya barrels from the corner of the warehouse, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the strong taste of the past sake had become so smooth, with a hint of fragrance in the flavor, and the water Naraya barrels have been widely praised ever since.
Once the love answered, now Gao Pan can't afford it.
This reversal of the text is also very consistent with the logic of communication, and has gradually become a unique brand story of Japanese whisky.
There is already a sentimental brand story, and success is inseparable from the endorsement of rational professional institutions.
Then, winning the prize is the most direct and fastest means.
In 2001, a British professional whisky magazine held a wine tasting competition, and a total of 293 whiskies from all over the world participated in the selection, and the first place was given to Yoichi whisky from Japan. It was also the first time that Japanese whisky had defeated Scotch whisky in an international competition.
That is, after this victory, Japanese whisky won the prize and got soft.
In 2003, Suntory's "30 Years of Hibiki" whisky won the International Spirits Challenge and won this award for 11 consecutive years.
In 2015, Suntory's "2013 Yamazaki Sherry Barrel" beat Scotch whisky again with a score of 97.5 to win the title of Whisky Bible Whisky of the Year, which is the first time Japanese whisky has won this award.
Jim Murray, author of the Whisky Bible, the world's first full-time whisky writer, evaluates a whisky based on the four dimensions of aroma, taste, aftertaste and balance, with a maximum score of 25 points in each category and a total score of 100.
Every year, he writes down tasting notes and ratings for more than 1,000 newly released or niche whiskies, and re-evaluates previously evaluated wines.
With a total of more than 4,000 reviews, the Whisky Bible was released for the new year.
In 2017, at the World Whiskey Award, Hakushu won the World's Best Single Malt Whisky title in 25 years, and Taketsuru won the World's Best Blended Whisky Award in 17 years.
With a story, with an endorsement, then how is it hyped and how is it spread?
There are opportunities and coincidences.
First of all, things with hype value must have scarcity, and things that are available all over the street will definitely not sell at high prices.
One of the reasons why Japanese whisky is so popular now is the scarcity of raw sake.
In the case of Yamazaki 18-year-old wine, the current price is around 9,500 yuan.
It is mainly composed of wines aged ≥ 18 years.
So how many bottles of Yamazaki 18 can be produced now depends on how many original sake was brewed in the brewery more than a decade or decades ago.
Count forward 18 to 40 years, that is, from the 80s to the beginning of the 20th century, just in time for the 20 years that began to be lost after the bursting of Japan's bubble economy.
This is the lowest point for the entire Japanese whisky industry.
Annual consumption of whisky is passing
At that time, because of the economic downturn, more and more people chose cheaper shochu, which dealt a major blow to the sales of Japanese whisky.
The economy is sluggish, and the Japanese, who can no longer be drunk with money, are naturally not interested in whisky.
So by 2010, there were only 9 whisky distilleries left in Japan, and Suntory accounted for the 3 most famous.
Compared to more than 130 distilleries in Scotland, the Japanese whisky industry is highly concentrated.
As for those distilleries that have closed, such as the Karuizawa Distillery, the stock of raw sake left behind is monopolized by one company.
The defunct Karuizawa Distillery
These super buyers who stock the original wine under the plate will naturally not let the goods smash in their hands.
So they began to make Amway Japanese whisky to the world through various advertisements and various expert reviews.
As a result, in 2011, Karuizawa wine appeared frequently at auction and began to test the waters, and it was sold for sky-high prices.
When the third-party market responds to your hype with real money, the hyped market can really be revitalized.
More and more money joined, forming a snowball of growth.
Today's Japanese whisky is no longer a simple drink, but has financial value.
The most representative thing is to start having private equity funds buy whisky.
It is said that someone traded 25,000 bottles of investment grade whisky in 5 years, making a profit of $26 million, with a total annual return of 17%.
Therefore, after talking about the above reasons, the reasons for the explosion of Japanese whisky are gradually clear.
That is, under various publicity and awareness, everyone has a consensus on the product power and scarcity of Japanese whisky.
Under the operation of capital, whisky already has financial properties.
As soon as buyers and sellers hit it off, the price of Japanese whisky soared.
I have to say that the Japanese made Japanese whisky into a hit, and there were still two strokes.