Guruma Brewery's "Yuja Ga09" won Best of 2026, the top award in the Korean rice wine institutional sector, at the 2026 Korea Liquor Awards. In the non-Korean rice wine institutional sector, Hanyoungseok Fermentation Lab's Dohan Cheongmyeongju 15 won, and in distilled spirits, Chusa40 by the agricultural corporation Yesan Apple Wine Co., Ltd. received the award.
The Korea Liquor Awards is Korea's representative liquor competition, now in its 13th year. With the goal of "discovering and widely promoting good domestic liquor, and supporting the formation of a sound drinking culture," ChosunBiz has hosted it annually since 2014.
This year's event drew 260 companies submitting a total of 1,118 brands. It is the largest among domestic competitions that cover comprehensive liquor. Of these, 449 brands received the grand prize.
By institutional sector, 107 Korean traditional liquors received the grand prize: 50 Korean rice wine, 37 non-Korean rice wine, and 20 distilled spirits. Non-Korean rice wine included yakju and cheongju. Distilled spirits were judged in categories of under 25%, 25% to under 40%, and 40% and above.
Yuja Ga09, which won first place in the Korean rice wine institutional sector, is a natural yuzu makgeolli made by Guruma Brewery, a traditional liquor brewery located in Mapo District, Seoul. It enhanced flavor with Odaemi rice from Cheorwon and yuzu from Namhae. Yuja Ga09 won the grand prize in the Korean rice wine institutional sector for the second consecutive year following last year, and this year also received Best of 2026.
Dohan Cheongmyeongju 15 by Hanyoungseok Fermentation Lab, which took first in non-Korean rice wine, is a premium yakju that modernly reinterprets a seasonal liquor drunk on Cheongmyeong, one of the 24 seasonal divisions. The top distilled spirit was Chusa 40 by Yesan Apple Wine Co., Ltd. A distilled spirit made with Yesan apples, it applies a European-style distillation process and is characterized by aging in oak barrels.