So long, soju? South Korea is the fastest-growing whisky market in the world – and the likes of LVMH are trying to cash in on the country’s love of single malt despite its sky-high liquor tax
- Some of the world’s biggest luxury spenders are label-loving Koreans, and that goes for whisky, too – with sales jumping 46 per cent since 2021, the fastest in the world, according to research
- Despite its 72 per cent liquor tax, LVMH recently held an ‘Ardbeg Day’ in Seoul to lure buyers, but 7-Eleven remains the most prominent distribution channel, even releasing limited-supply whiskies
For Choi Gyu-won, a 29-year-old Korean in a small village in South Gyeongsang, drinking whisky at home is a way to experience the good life on a budget.
“After tasting highballs at a bar, I decided to make them myself,” Choi said. He makes his own cocktail of soda, ice and whisky with Jack Daniel’s or Suntory Kakubin, which sells for about US$35 a bottle in South Korea including taxes. While that’s still cheaper than going out for drinks, it’s far pricier than Korea’s more common soju that sells for about US$2 a bottle.
But the higher price tag is worth it, according to Choi and many of his peers. South Koreans consumed 14.2 million litres of whisky in 2022, a small amount compared with other nations, but up 46 per cent from 2021, according to Euromonitor International, a London-based researcher. The pace was the fastest in the world, the researcher said.
“Millennials and Gen Z consumers tend to reject the alcohol culture centred around excessive drinking in late-night gatherings and seek new ways to enjoy alcohol,” said Sunny Moon, research manager at Euromonitor. “With the prolonged spread of Covid-19, the concept of indulging in small luxuries with a small amount of money has risen.”
The boom in whisky adds to Korea’s rising spending on luxury goods, which made the Asian country the world’s biggest luxury spender per capita in 2022, according to Morgan Stanley.