Kavalan has agreed a deal with Lotte Duty Free to open a flagship South Korean store at the Lotte Duty Free downtown branch in Seoul. It will be the first exclusive Kavalan store in the country. 

The move is part of a global push to expand sales of Kavalan whisky through Lotte Duty Free channels, including at key airports such as: Singapore Changi Airport; Melbourne Airport; Guam Airport; and Hanoi Airport.

Sales of the Taiwanese whisky have increased 30-fold at Lotte since 2022.

Kavalan’s South Korea sales hit 169% in 2022, led by travel retail sales which rose 115% on 2021.

The brand’s sales were boosted by the appearance of Kavalan Solist Oloroso Sherry in Decision to Leave, a South Korean film released in 2022 and directed by Park Chan–wook.

Y.T Lee, President at the King Car Group, a Taiwanese conglomerate under which Kavalan Distillery sits, said plans are in place to develop exclusive releases for the Seoul duty free downtown store.

“We are keen to invest more here. South Korea is a rapidly growing market for Kavalan, especially in the duty-free sector. Across Lotte Duty Free alone sales jumped last year more than 35 times compared to 2022,” said Lee.

Lee Seung-guk, Product Division head at Lotte Duty Free, added: “This is great news for our partnership with Kavalan. The Solist PX Sherry Cask, Port Cask, and Vinho Barrique are our best sellers and we’re looking forward to opening Kavalan’s boutique store and developing new products unique to it.”

Lotte Duty Free says it will strengthen cooperation with Shilla Duty Free, focusing on the MZ generation – Millennials and Gen Z – and plans to introduce more whisky and brandy products.

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