Jinro is South Korea’s leading producer of soju, a spirit often likened to a low-proof vodka (around 20 percent ABV), and is arguably the world’s most popular spirits brand. See soju. The company claims Koreans imbibe almost two billion little green 360-ml bottles of it a year, and its success mirrors the country’s rise from poverty to prosperity.
Founded in 1924 during the colonial era, when Japanese firms dominated the spirits industry, Jinro was entirely Korean-funded, a source of national pride. Originally located in Yonggang in present-day North Korea, with the outbreak of the Korean War Jinro fled to Pusan (now Busan) in 1951 and in 1954, after the war, to Seoul. It later navigated the Korean government’s 1965 ban on distilling rice, which extended to 1999. In 2005, Jinro merged with Hite, the country’s foremost beer brewer, creating a Korean beverage powerhouse.
Jinro’s flagship soju, Chamisul, is distilled in column stills from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, tapioca, and sugar cane. Sweetened with fructose, but not overtly sweet, it is filtered through bamboo charcoal. Other sojus in the family include Jinro 24, Ilpoom Jinro, and Jinro Otsu. Domestically, it is typically consumed chilled as shots or mixed into beer but has been making cocktail inroads internationally. In addition to its fervent following in South Korea, the company boasts that it can be found in sixty countries. No doubt its marketing efforts have been helped by the use of K-pop stars like Psy of “Gangnam Style” fame.
See also South Korea.
Ye, Jong-Suk. “World’s Best Selling Distilled Liquor.” Koreana, Winter 2013, http://www.koreana.or.kr/months/newsview.asp?bidx=3177&lang=en&page_type=list (accessed October 28, 2015).
By: Michael Anstendig