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World's First Blended Double Malt Korean Whisky: South Korea's CraftBros Embarks On JEGI Project Featuring Collaborative Blends With Korean Distilleries

 

"When I was young, I used to play Jegi with my neighbourhood friends and relatives around the Lunar New Year. When I played Jegi, the Jegi that fell down looked like a flower. I don't know if it was because Jegi was really shaped like a flower and looked pretty like a flower, or because I enjoyed playing with my friends as a child and so it looked pretty like a flower.

These days, I get along well with friends who make whisky. When I have fun with friends from other distilleries and drink whiskies that each of us has made, we often mix and drink our own whiskies. I also want to make a more delicious whisky by blend single malt whiskies. That’s what playing together is all about. We are thus releasing Korea’s first Double Malt Korean Whisky, a blend of single malt whiskies produced by two Korean whisky distilleries.

The whisky that blends the single malt whiskies of Kim Chang-soo Whisky Distillery and the single malt whisky of Craftbros is therefore the Craftbros Jegi Kimchangsoo. Making delicious whisky is fun, blending each other’s whiskies with distillery friends is fun, and tasting and enjoying whisky is all fun. It’s like having fun together while kicking Jegi."

 

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South Korea's whisky scene has been bursting with vibrance as single malt whisky distilleries proper have begun to emerge, and thus taking advantage with the nascent yet burgeoning identity of what South Korean whisky will shape up to look like, distillers have taken full creative liberty to experimenting and also continuing to define new styles and categories within the landscape - that all is to say South Korea is now a must watch whisky producing country not just in Asia, but globally.

And Craftbros is at least to thank for that! Having first started out as a craft beer maker that has found great popularity with their fully saturated IPA's, they have since ventured into whiskymaking, solidifying their position as one of the top three leaders of South Korean craft whisky.

Yet with the newness of the category, it is clear that Craftbros has brought with it it's experimental DNA from its craft beer forays into the whiskymaking space and as such have begun to seriously produce numerous firsts for South Korea. They've made the first distilled IPA (whilst not technically a whisky, does draw on the same base ingredient of barley) - read our review here!, and has also produced the first multi-country double malt blend, piecing together their South Korean single malt distillate with Japan's Nagahama single malt whisky - read our review here!.

 

 

This time with the new Jegi series, Craftbros has started off by debuting two releases - Craftbros JEGI Kim Chang Soo (a Korean Double Malt Whisky) and Craftbros JEGI IPA Newborn Soorok (a blend of IPA distillate and distilled Soju)! The series is hence named after the popular Korean children's game Jegi, where kids kick around a shuttlecock toy made with paper strips bound to a small anchor.

Craftbros JEGI Kim Chang Soo

Working closely with fellow South Korean distillery and whiskymaker Kim Chang Soo (whose story is covered here, and whose single malt is reviewed here!), Craftbros will debut the world's first South Korean Double Malt Whisky (two distilleries, 100% South Korean distilled, aged, blended and bottled!), bottled at 54.8% ABV. The two South Korean whiskymakers had met up in Gimpo and had gotten together for a day of fun, which thus inspired the blend!

Craftbros JEGI IPA Newborn Soorok

The second bottling of the JEGI series is a collaboration with popular Soju maker Soorok. The two makers had gotten together to discuss ideas, and had decided to create an entirely unique and unheard of blend - with Craftbros' distilled IPA craft beer and Soorok's PX and Tawny Port Wine casks aged distilled Soju. "It would have been hard to imagine before trying Jegi IPA Newborn Soorok that when you mature distilled soju in casks and blend the two, which is a distilled IPA with lots of hops, it becomes such a delicious liquor. JEGI IPA Newborn Soorok is the first of its kind not only in Korea but also in the world, and has a new flavor and aroma that you have never encountered before.

The Craftbros JEGI IPA Newborn Soorok blend is bottled at 56.3% ABV.

 

 

Both JEGI releases from Craftbros will be released on 24th July 2025, at the below stated South Korean retailers.

* Nationwide stores: Wine & More (app & branch locations), Daily Shot (Smart Order), CU (Pocket CU), E-Mart (Wine Grab), Bottle Bunker (Jamsil, Seoul Station, Sangmu), Whiskey Park (Seongnam, Gangnam, Incheon, Gangdong, Mokdong, Songdo, Suwon, Gurigalmae), Ravin Liquor Store (Ilsan, Incheon, Gangnam)

* Seoul Gyeonggi: Daemulsanghoe, Sejjisanghoe, Glen Luna, Iwaine Shop, Golmok Whiskey, POW Chungjeong-ro, Hideout, Malt Barmori, Ark Bar, Gold Cups, Dongbang Misik, Bar Epi, Vivaravida Museum, Docent, Bar Platform, Tenuto, Rubato, Today's Drink, Bar Jae-rae, Our Cave, Cha Cha, Maltimum, Ilsan Liquor, K-Bar, Sanbon Malt, Sling Bar, Eugene, I Whiskey, Bottles, Barrel Dan Yesterday, Cafe Tasen, Asleong, Nott, Anywhere, Gwaala, Bom-e, Nom Beer, Hoppy, Sevdor, Broyin, Laurent, 52Hz, Bee House, Emp11, Ounce 28.35, Burn, Highball Bar, Geusul Lee Sooljeosul, Keg Shop, Beer Is Pain Killer, Babamba

* Chungcheong Jeolla: Wednesday Whiskey, Dodo Bottle, Dioni, Wolseok, Lash

* Gangwon Gyeongsang: Chuncheon World Liquor Market, Bath House, Orange Bottle Jinhae

 

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team