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By Park Si-soo
Scotch whisky maker Diageo's low-alcohol spirit drink "W Ice by Windsor" is taking the domestic market by storm, even causing supply shortages in some regions.
Supplies expected to last three months in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province sold out inside 50 days after its release in March, according to the British company's Korean office. The two are considered "trend setting" regions in the liquor industry, indicating that the product is expected to become popular elsewhere, especially in Seoul and its surrounding areas, the nation's biggest market with 22 million people.
"It's selling really well," said Huh Kwon-jo, chairman of Hyesung Jooryu, a liquor wholesaler that has supplied Diageo products in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province for nearly four decades. "Consumers in this region are fastidious. So it was very rare that all the W Ice by Windsors was consumed earlier than scheduled."
The biggest contributor to the drink's popularity is its smooth taste, Huh said, adding that the "proven quality" of products from Diageo and the firm's fame as the world's No.1 whisky maker have also played an important role.
Diageo launched the product to cash in on the rising popularity of low-alcohol products. W Ice by Windsor has an alcohol content of 35 percent, lower than the 40 percent of conventional Scotch whisky.
Despite the reduction, the company said the product retains the unique flavor and taste of conventional Scotch whisky thanks to the firm's high-end blending technology and experience.
"In order to maximize smoothness, we've introduced chill-filtering technology for the first time in the industry," a Diageo Korea spokesman said.
Yoo Sung-eun, secretary general of the Whisky Society of Korea, said W Ice by Windsor has a good chance to succeed here.
"First of all, it perfectly inherited the taste of Windsor," he said, referring to one of the best-selling Scotch whiskies in Korea. "At the same time, it maximized smoothness by reducing alcohol content. I think this is an ideal combination to have great appeal to Korean consumers."
