The Past and Present Lives of Qingdao Whiskey

The first bottle of whiskey produced on Chinese soil was produced in Qingdao, Shandong in 1912, which is also quite explosive in China's current whisky industry.

For most people, they may think that the entry of whiskey into the Chinese market has been in the past few years, even compared to the past decade or so. Little do they know that Qingdao whiskey is several years earlier than Japanese whiskey！！！！

Let's take a detailed look at the "past and present" of Qingdao and whiskey

Shortly after the establishment of Qingdao in 1891, on November 14, 1897, in the 23rd year of the Qing Dynasty's Guangxu reign, Germany invaded Qingdao under the pretext of the "Juye religious case". The Germans, along with their brewing techniques, brought them to Qingdao. In 1912, the winery founded by German businessman Klaus began to produce China's first bottle of whiskey, first bottle of champagne, and first bottle of brandy, which were also produced in this area one after another.

This history lasted until 1914, when Qingdao was occupied by the Japanese until 1922 (after the May Fourth Movement, Qingdao returned to its motherland). In 1930, which brewery was acquired by German merchant Meishi Foreign Company and named Qingdao Meikou Distillery. Subsequently, most of the German distilleries were inherited by the Japanese who took over Qingdao; The Japanese are promoting improvements in craftsmanship and continuing to produce whiskey and various spirits.

At that time, the spirits produced in Qingdao, like beer, were mostly for foreigners to drink and were the favorite of foreign sailors. The vast majority of them were exported to other countries by commercial ships from various countries, so most of the trademarks were mainly in English.

In 1938, Japan once again occupied Qingdao, and after experiencing turmoil, the Qingdao whiskey factory also experienced a very difficult period, closing and opening, opening and closing. During the outbreak of World War II, it was difficult for distilleries in Qingdao to obtain imported foreign liquor, so some powerful distilleries began to increase production capacity to ensure supply. Under Japanese occupation, Japanese sake factories experienced significant growth during this period, reaching a maximum of over 60, while whiskey production capacity only continued.

This difficult situation continued until 1945-1946. After the liberation of Qingdao, society gradually stabilized, and some private capital used the equipment, craftsmanship, and technology left by Germany and the Japanese to establish their own liquor brewery. In 1947, Qingdao Meikou Distillery was also acquired by the Kuomintang's bureaucratic capital and became an affiliated Qingdao Brewery. In June 1949, after the liberation of Qingdao, the distillery was taken over by the Chinese People's Government. But the produced whiskey and other types of foreign liquor still use the previous diamond shaped taste symbol.

Qingdao Archives Forum with Pictures

After the liberation, the market stabilized and the people's material needs became increasingly abundant. During this period, as many as a dozen liquor factories were established like mushrooms after rain, including Yutian Brewery, Baona Brewery, Meiquan Soda Brewery, Qingdao Food Factory, Meikou Meishi, Yufeng Grape Brewery, Ruifeng Brewery, Bohai Brewery, Xinghua Brewery, Zhenyuan Brewery, Sanguang Brewery, Guohua Brewery, Honolulu Yangjiu Yifenglong Brewery, Laoshan Brewery, and others have their own whiskey brands and specialty products. This period is also the most abundant period in the history of Qingdao for whisky brands, and has also achieved the fame of "Qingdao Whiskey".

Social stability, people's stability, and unprecedented development of the winery. In 1954, Premier Zhou Enlai hosted foreign guests with Champagne from the Meikou Distillery at the Geneva Conference, receiving unanimous praise from the guests present. Although foreign liquors such as whiskey have made significant progress, at this stage, wine is still the most accepted by the public to cater to trends; The winery was renamed Qingdao Winery in 1959.

Later, in order to refine the beverage industry, Qingdao Winery and Qingdao Brewery were separated in 1964. In the 1970s and 1980s, Qingdao Winery entered its heyday. In 1985, its production, output value, and market share ranked first in the same industry, becoming one of the leaders of the Chinese liquor industry. Of course, during this stage, the public mainly accepted wine, so wine won many awards. If you are sentimental, you can reply to the editor to see if a separate issue will be issued in the future. I believe many old Qingdao people know that "green grape" Qingdao wine is the same as "green beer", which is essential for citizens to use when getting married, having children, and celebrating holidays. In the last century, Qingdao wine dominated the wine market and swept the country, which is indeed a memory that Qingdao people are fond of talking about.

However, in the mid to late 1990s, Qingdao Winery was in a difficult situation due to poor management and went bankrupt and closed down in 1996. With several generations of life, Qingdao Winery reluctantly bid farewell to the market and withdrew from the historical stage.

Do you think that's all for now? No, no, no, it's far from over，，，，

In 2005, Qingdao Huadong Grape Brewery Co., Ltd. announced the acquisition of the nearly century old Qingdao Winery and re registered Jiahai (Qingdao) Wine Co., Ltd., injecting huge funds to launch the "Qingdao" brand wine comeback project. The factory site has also been relocated to No. 12 Siliu South Road, which is not far from the old factory site.

During this period, although the distillery was closed and shut down, whiskey was continuously produced, and the produced whiskey was also preserved in underground cellars. Although the production was not large, it can be said that it has been passed down.

In 2008, the century old underground wine cellar of Qingdao Winery was awarded the title of "Qingdao Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit". Everything is starting to develop in a positive direction again.

In recent years, the demand for whiskey in China has become increasingly high, and people's understanding of whiskey has become more and more detailed. This is especially true for young people nowadays. For young people, whiskey is a category with a relatively higher awareness than brandy, rum, gin, and other categories that have not yet broken through from the "foreign wine" category. After all, young people's understanding of most categories of "foreign wine" is relatively vague.

According to research on price differences, since 2023, whiskey prices have seen a significant increase. Taking the world's third-largest whiskey producer, Bentley, as an example, announced price adjustments starting from March 1, 2023, involving its Nissan brands such as Yamazaki, Baishou, and Xiangxiang, as well as its Suewe brands such as Lavigne, Okente, and Pomo, with increases ranging from 3% to 10%. Among them, the growth rates in the 21st and 30th years, Yamazaki in the 25th year, and Shirazu in the 25th year were both 10%. Behind the price changes, the market and consumer demand for whiskey are also growing.

Can this indicate that spring belongs to whiskey?

For Qingdao whiskey, this is also an opportunity, an opportunity for comprehensive revitalization.

Chinese whiskey will also enter a new era. So as early as 2022, Qingdao Whiskey teamed up with Qingdao Distillery Marketing Management Co., Ltd. to restart the Qingdao Whiskey business.

Qingdao Whiskey New Three Series

A whiskey fire that could have ignited China was ignited in the modern times of Qingdao, but after experiencing difficulties, it was almost extinguished.

Its rebirth has ignited new hope for Chinese whiskey！！！

After all, we don't want to sigh for the unique decline of modern whiskey culture in Chinese history in the future. As whisky lovers, although we agree with the advantages of traditional whisky power, we still hope that one day we will be proud of our own whisky！！！