Japanese 'Yamazaki 12 Years' and 7 Others
All 8 Types, 2,000 Bottles Sold
Resale Prices Soar Due to Shortage
Whiskey Sales More Than Double
At around 1:30 PM on the 25th, nearly 30 people lined up in front of the Lotte Castle Plaza building near Jamsil Station in Seoul. They were not there to buy luxury goods like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, or Rolex. These were people waiting for the ‘Whiskey Run’ event held by 7-Eleven for one day only. This Challenge Store location is one of four stores in the Seoul area hosting the Whiskey Run event.
On the afternoon of the 25th, during the "Whiskey Run" event, citizens lined up in front of the Seven Eleven Challenge Store to purchase limited edition whiskey. [Photo by Seven Eleven]
The whiskey craze, which spread as the home drinking culture (drinking at home) took root during COVID-19, shows no signs of cooling even now in the endemic era (periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases). A man in his 30s who came out just after lunchtime said, "I came out to buy whiskey that is hard to find on the market." Among those waiting in line, there was also a man with a child in a stroller.
The Whiskey Run is an event selling limited edition whiskeys. The limited edition whiskeys prepared by 7-Eleven for this event include eight types, totaling 2,000 bottles. Customers can purchase three types of Japanese whiskey such as ‘Yamazaki 12 Years’ and ‘Hibiki Harmony,’ which have recently become scarce and seen resale prices soar, as well as ‘Balvenie 16 Years French Oak’ and others. The sales method is that customers order the whiskey they want at the register, and the staff brings the bottle from the store’s warehouse. Only one bottle can be ordered at a time. A 7-Eleven representative said, "Customers who want multiple types of whiskey sometimes buy one bottle and then line up again."
On this day, the newly released ‘Glenallachie 10cs’ was by far the most popular. A 7-Eleven representative said, "It’s a product that was released only two days ago," adding, "Although it is not sold at a discount, it is a hot new item, so it is very popular among whiskey enthusiasts." In addition, the new whiskey ‘Glenfiddich Orchard’ also received many selections from customers.
Earlier, in February, 7-Eleven held a limited edition whiskey event at three offline stores, where all the prepared stock sold out within 30 minutes. After this event, 7-Eleven’s whiskey sales reportedly more than doubled. This is the background for planning the Whiskey Run event again after three months. At the event, Song Seung-bae, MD of the Beverage and Alcohol Team at 7-Eleven, said, "The popularity of whiskey is still so great that demand far exceeds supply," and added, "We expect the whiskey craze to continue at least until the first half of next year."
With the unstoppable popularity of whiskey, the distribution industry is actively using whiskey open runs as a way to attract customers. Not only 7-Eleven but also GS Retail held events in August and October last year selling about 2,000 bottles of rare whiskey on a first-come, first-served basis. The stock prepared by GS Retail was sold out within two days. GS Retail has been holding this event on the 10th of every month since this year. Lotte Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store, and Hyundai Department Store have also recently held whiskey-related experiential events simultaneously and are engaging in limited sales of popular whiskeys.
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