Interview With "Master Of Cup" Song Hou Chi: 30 Years, A Small Piece Of "Whisky Time"

Song Houchi, who first saw Charles, was gentle and talkative. He interviewed reporters in a newly completed office in Shanghai. Behind him, in addition to the position of general manager of Eddington Group China, there is also the industry name and title of "Asian whiskey first" and Scottish whisky "master of cups". "Master of cups" is the highest affirmation of the global Scotch Whisky Association to promote the outstanding contribution of whisky culture. At present, only 107 people in the world have been awarded this title, and Song Houchi is the only Chinese among them.

In October, Eddington, headed by song Hou Chi, was officially relocated to the Shanghai Xujiahui port center. On the side of over 1600 square meters of office area, the first Macallan experience center of Eddington group appeared. According to the design of Scotland headquarters, there were many Macallan stages and years of wine at the end of the corridor, and there were many limited edition collections that had long been out of print.

Charles song. Data map

As a global high-end Scotch Whisky company, Eddington group owns many strong distilleries and liquor brands including Macallan distillery, highland Knight distillery, glense wine factory and Bao Ge distillery. Among them, Macallan whisky has been keeping the leading position of the single wheat whisky industry in recent years. Many times, the auction of Sotheby's auction has been the object of competition between collectors and investors.

For song Hou Chi, the group settled the first Macallan brand experience center in Shanghai. The importance of the Chinese market is self-evident. This brand new area can help him complete multiple tasks, including strengthening the linkage with local markets, upgrading product sales and distribution services, promoting cross-border cooperation with other institutions and high-end brands, and deepening consumer experience.

This is the highlight of the whisky market in 30 years. You know, 30 years ago, in the Chinese context, "whiskey" and "Macallan" were also unknown words. "When I started promoting Macallan in Taiwan in 1995, I sold less than 30 boxes a year." And Song Houchi just passed the whisky culture like this, and bit by bit, he opened up the market into today's look. This is also one of the important reasons why he won the title of Scotch Whisky master.

In the whisky world, "master of cups" is a rare honor. There are only 100 in the world. "Master of cup" undoubtedly has very rich knowledge and experience of Scotch whisky. Since joining the Eddington group in January 1990, 30 years ago, Song Houchi led his team to teach more than 25 thousand consumers in China. Among them, he personally taught more than 8000 people. He trained a large number of whiskey fans in China, and successfully laid a high position in the Asian market such as Macallan.

Scotland The Quaich is the symbol of the cup holder Association. It originated from the "cuach" in Gail's language. Since seventeenth Century, it has been built with silver, representing "trust", "love" and "friendship". The motto of the cup holders association also comes from the Gail language, which means "the water of eternal life". Like the liquor that brews the sleeping years, it takes a long time to make a real "master" and develop a mature market.

For Song Houchi, he can ignore time, but he does not like it. He is not the kind of person who enjoys a quiet life, but a "urban rhythm type". He has a great demand for himself: "even if you do the same job, you still have to change. Every day I think about different things, how to break through, how to accept challenges... " In this way, the 30 years are neither long nor boring. "Some people think that 3 or 5 years are very long, but that's not the case. Making wine in China may be endless for a lifetime or two years. From the perspective of wine culture, 20 or 30 years is only a small amount of time.

Friends of time

Twenty-first Century: May I ask you the earliest origin of whisky or Macallan?

Song Houchi: I practiced in Macallan distillery in the early years, where I saw something different from theory. Every time you make a bottle of wine, you need to record your name because you are responsible for this wine. At that time, computers were not developed, and manpower was very important. What's more, the distillation part is quite dull and monotonous, especially for Chinese people who are accustomed to fast-paced life.

Twenty-first Century: you have been in the whisky industry for nearly 30 years. What are the factors that make your career so stable and lasting?

Song Houchi: I entered the industry in 1990, and all the way down, I did not consider the question of time. When you are interested in doing something, you will not care about time. Time flies, I can tell you how I feel.

Twenty-first Century: in China, you have witnessed nearly 30 years of whiskey market changes and cultural popularity. What impressed you? Has any change been driven?

Song Houchi: when I started promoting Macallan in Taiwan in 1995, I sold less than 30 boxes a year. At that time, people did not know about it, nor did they recognize single malt. I remember when I first held a press conference, no one drank a single malt whisky. We must constantly communicate, explain and slow down. It is the most essential way to communicate with students in class and face to face. Speaking of change, in fact, 20 years is a short time from wine culture. Some people think 3 or 5 years are very long, but wine is not like that. I haven't changed my drinking culture in China for 30 years. It is not easy to change culture. It is even more difficult to change the culture of 5000 years. Our Chinese etiquette is toast, while foreigners are moderate. I don't think we should do that from the perspective of changing culture, but we should understand products. First understand wine and then drink to it.

Fast, slow and changing

Twenty-first Century: what's your impression of Scotland?

Song Houchi: Scotland is a relatively simple place with beautiful scenery, sparsely populated land and more sheep than people. The pace of life there is very slow and too quiet. Many people enjoy this kind of life. I can't. I belong to the fast-paced city.

Twenty-first Century: if you like fast pacing, you should prefer change. But you have worked in this industry for 30 years, will you feel a lack of change?

Song Houchi: when people do the same work every day, there is no change in the mechanical work. But I have done all the different things from an entry-level position to the present position, from Taiwan to mainland China, to Singapore and back home. Many people will say that you have been in this industry for a long time. You have to make different trades and make changes. I offer a different way of thinking: the age has been changing and the market is changing. If you have a request for yourself, even if you do the same job, there will be changes. You will think about different things every day, how to break through, and how to accept challenges.

Strategy? Tell the truth

Twenty-first Century: in the single wheat market, what kind of brand strategy did Macallan benefit from?

Song Houchi: I think our marketing strategy is very simple. It's "telling the truth". The product itself has already explained everything. In general, whisky should be added to sugar, because the same wine should be transferred to the same batch of wine. When we do not do this, Macallan presents natural tones. It can have more than three hundred thousand oak barrels stored in a single distillery. This is the storage capacity of our largest single distillery. Other large companies can make wine and their winery barrels may all add up to this quantity. The cost of preparing so many oak barrels is very large.

Twenty-first Century: what is Eddington's overall planning for his brand in the Chinese market? Highlights outside Macallan?

Song Houchi: our first focus is Macallan. Now Macallan is basically no problem. The next key point is Glen Luce, also known as "wheat Karen". The price of this product is somewhat lower than that of Macallan, a bit like a treasure that hasn't been discovered yet. Like Macallan, its production process and technology are basically the same as Macallan's. We used to give Glenn silk to someone else and did it back last year, so we are in the process of rectifying it.

About the trend

Twenty-first Century: how do you think Chinese consumers know and enjoy the single malt?

Song Houchi: young consumers like single wheat, and their desire for knowledge is also strong. Now the domestic consumer trend is their pursuit of individuality, pursuit of special niche products, think this is special. At this time, the media has the responsibility to help people do a better understanding, to spread the right things, and consumers will become more mature.

Twenty-first Century: at present, many consumers in China are praises of Japanese whisky. What do you think is the challenge of Japanese whisky to traditional Scotch whisky?

Song Houchi: in fact, the conflict is not big, because the quantity of whisky in Japan is very small, and there are not many high-end ones. The whisky in Japan is very light, which is more suitable for the taste of Chinese people. But now it is sought after and fried too much. Because its quantity is not large, the price of some products is exaggerated. The temporary trend is so, I think it will soon be over.

Twenty-first Century: Single Malt Whisky hot, Japanese whisky popular... How do you evaluate the similar trend of whisky consumption?

Song Houchi: I think the trend of drinking whisky is just beginning. In terms of domestic conditions, Cognac is still larger than whisky. Basically, the amount of Cognac in the domestic market is more than double that of whisky. In mature markets, the proportion of Cognac and whisky is about 2:8. We are now close to two million cases of whisky consumption. Malt whisky only has 2.3 million boxes. Single malt is only a small part of it, with only one or two percentage points. Only the percentage of people who really taste a single malt whisky will follow suit. Generally speaking, the market share of liquor is still very low for liquor. Making wine in China may be endless for a lifetime or two years, so I say 20 or 30 years is just a very small time.