Wando Yuja Makgeolli Wins 2025 Korea Liquor Grand Prize

Traditional Nuruk and Smooth Aroma Stand Out

Wando Yuja Makgeolli, produced by Gogum Brewery in Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do, has been honored with the Grand Prize in the Makgeolli category at the 2025 Korea Liquor Awards.

According to the county on the 18th, the Korea Liquor Awards is a representative domestic liquor competition organized annually by Chosun Biz since 2014. It selects and awards the best liquor in each category through a rigorous evaluation by a panel of professional tasters. This year, a total of 236 companies and 1,008 brands participated, making for fierce competition.

Wando Yuja Makgeolli won the Grand Prize in the Traditional Liquor Takju category at the 2025 Korea Liquor Awards. Photo by Wando County

Gogum Brewery achieved the remarkable feat of winning awards for two consecutive years, following last year's "Jangbogo's Dream, Hwangchil Yakju" with this year's "Wando Yuja Makgeolli." Wando Yuja Makgeolli is a premium makgeolli that modernizes the traditional yuja makgeolli recipe handed down through generations, using traditional nuruk. It is characterized by its smooth aroma and natural sweetness, as no artificial sweeteners are added.

In particular, the refreshing flavor of yuja, a specialty of Wando, harmonizes with locally grown rice and traditional nuruk, making this makgeolli highly regarded as a light and approachable drink for everyone.

Bae Junhyun, CEO of Gogum Brewery, stated, "Gogum Brewery strives to produce the finest liquor using Wando rice and also produces a variety of makgeolli utilizing local agricultural products. I am deeply honored that this award allows us to promote local agricultural products more widely." He added, "As a local company in Wando, we aim to become a centennial business and will do our best to establish traditional liquor as an outstanding cultural product of the region."

A county official commented, "We take great pride in the fact that traditional liquor produced in our region continues to receive high praise. We will actively support the traditional liquor industry that utilizes local agricultural products so that it can contribute to increasing farmers' income and achieving mutual prosperity."

Meanwhile, Gogum Brewery, now in its second generation of family management, continues to contribute to the development of the traditional liquor industry by producing various high-quality traditional liquors such as "Jangbogo's Dream, Hwangchil Yakju," "Yuja Makgeolli," and more, in addition to "Wando Yuja Makgeolli."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.