18 Traditional Korean Alcoholic Beverages of Most Excellent Quality 

Sejong, 9 August 2024 — On 8 August, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation have announced 18 winners at the 2024 Korean Sool Award, the government-hosted contest held since 2010 to select and award Korea’s traditional alcoholic beverages of the most excellent quality.  

The contest was divided into six categories¹⁾ and received a total of 395 entries from 246 breweries, distilleries, and wineries across the country. To ensure selection of traditional alcoholic drinks of the most excellent quality, a panel of judges consisting of alcoholic beverage connoisseurs and civilians evaluated the entries against strict criteria. As a result, the grand, the highest excellence, and excellence awards have been bestowed on three entries from each category (a total of 18 winners from six categories).

1) The six categories are (a) low-alcohol takju (unrefined rice wine), (b) high-alcohol takju, (c) yakju and cheongju (refined rice wine), (d) fruit wine, (e) spirits (distilled soju and standard distilled alcoholic beverages), and (f) others (other alcoholic beverages and liqueurs). 

Among the grand award winners in the six categories, the presidential award went to IDO 42, a distilled soju produced from organic rice grown in the city of Cheongju in Chungcheongbuk-do (a province of South Korea), in recognition of its outstanding taste and the producer (Sejong Brewing)’s constant effort to improve its quality.

Grand award winners of the six categories are as follows: (a) Doksuri Makgeolli (low-alcohol takju) made by Shintanjin Brewery (신탄진주조: 독수리막걸리); (b) Haenam Chapssal Saeng Makgeolli 9% ABV (alcohol by volume) (high-alcohol takju) made by Samsan Brewery (삼산주조장: 해남참쌀생막걸리9도); (c) Han Young Suk Baek-soo-hwan-dong-ju (yakju and cheongju) of Han’s Fermentation Lab (한영석 발효연구소: 한영석 백수환동주); (d) Four M Rose (fruit wine) made by Galgisan Grape Farm (갈기산포도농원: 포엠로제); and (e) Honey Moon Wine (other drinks) of IBEE Agricultural Union Corporation (아이비영농조합: 허니문).

For this year’s contest, the category of takju has been broken down into subcategories of a high-alcohol takju (8% ABV or higher) and a low-alcohol takju (below 8% ABV) to discover traditional Korean alcoholic beverages of the most excellent quality and ensure fair competition.

The award ceremony will be held in connection with Korean Sool Grand Festival 2024, the biggest traditional Korean alcoholic beverage festival, scheduled for 15–17 November.  

Details about the winners of the grand awards, the highest excellence awards, and excellence awards are as follows: