Hwayo: Yeoju's Distilled Soju You Can Find Even at Convenience Stores

Autumn in Yeoju Before the Rice Harvest — Hwayo 25

Hwayo 25Distilled Soju · 25% · 375㎖Hwayo · Kwangjuyo

The Yeoju City Agricultural Technology Center describes Yeoju as an alluvial plain surrounded by the Taebaek, Charyeong and Gwangju mountain ranges, known since long ago as a center of rice farming. According to the Rural Development Administration's Nongsaro, the central region, including southern Gyeonggi, mostly harvests rice from early to mid-October, with fields planted with early-maturing varieties harvested sooner. From Friday, October 23, to Sunday, October 25, the 2026 Yeoju Ogok Naru Festival (여주오곡나루축제) takes place around the Silleuksa (신륵사) tourist area. Silleuksa, the festival's venue, was the votive temple of Yeongneung (영릉), the tomb of King Sejong.

Hwayo is a liquor that came out of a ceramics company. The Kwangjuyo Group (광주요그룹), which runs the ceramics brand Kwangjuyo (광주요), noted that countries with advanced ceramics also developed cuisines and liquors to match, and decided to develop Korean food and Korean liquor. In a 2017 interview with Edaily, Chairman Jo Tae-gwon (조태권) said there was no point in selling only ceramics, and that they needed “a liquor to go with food and ceramics.” Hwayo was established in 2003 and developed its liquor with two advisors who were then leading authorities on liquor, Park Chan-yeong (박찬영) and Kim Ho-yeong (김호영). It built its production plant in Ganam, Yeoju, in 2004 and released Hwayo 25 and Hwayo 41 in 2005. The two advisors left Hwayo behind as their final work, passing away in 2006 and 2007.

When explaining the name to guests from abroad, it helps to break it down in hanja. According to Hwayo's official website, “Hwayo” is made by splitting the character so (燒) in soju (燒酒) into two: hwa (火) means fire, and yo (堯) means something lofty and noble. Hwayo's U.S. official site explains that the bottle's shape is a modern reinterpretation of a 12th-century Goryeo celadon designated a National Treasure, the “cylindrical bottle with iron-painted willow design” (청자 철화양류문 통형병). Its competition record is worth telling too. Hwayo 25 won a bronze medal at the IWSC in 2007, a gold medal at Monde Selection in 2008, and the Grand Prize and Best of 2020 at the 2020 Korea Liquor Awards, and it is on record as having been listed, together with Hwayo 41, at the British department store Fortnum & Mason in 2014. The Hwayo brand received the Communication Design award at the 2013 Red Dot Design Award.

According to Hwayo's U.S. official site, rice that has been soaked in water and washed is steamed and combined with purely cultured microorganisms to make rice nuruk, the fermentation starter. Hwayo's Korean official site states that the ingredients are 100% Korean rice and water drawn from a bedrock layer 150 m underground. Distillation is vacuum distillation, in which the pressure inside the still is lowered so the liquid boils at a lower temperature, and Hwayo says this is how it achieves a clean, clear taste. The distilled spirit is aged in onggi (earthenware), and Hwayo says it was the first in Korea to try onggi aging for mass production. After aging, the spirit is refined and filtered to the 17, 25, 41 and 53% ABV specifications, and no artificial food additives are said to be added during production and aging.

Hwayo's official website says Hwayo 25 carries the deep flavor characteristic of its raw ingredient, rice. On how to drink it, the Korean product page recommends drinking it chilled or warmed, while the U.S. official site recommends it cold or at room temperature. The official highball recipe, the “Original Highball,” combines 45 ml of Hwayo 25 with a 1/8 lemon wedge, topped with sparkling water. The official home cocktails are “HWAYO VERY BERRY,” made with 30 ml of Hwayo 25 and 10 ml of raspberry syrup, topped with ice and cranberry juice, and “ORIENTAL HWAYO,” made with 30 ml of Hwayo 25 and 2 teaspoons of yuja-cheong (citron syrup), topped with ice and grapefruit juice.

For food pairings, there are combinations named by Hwayo's U.S. official site and The Sool (더술닷컴). The U.S. site lists raw red meat, lobster and steamed clams as good matches. The Sool, run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and aT (the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation), pairs Hwayo 25 with raw fish, explaining that its 25% ABV flavor takes away the fishy taste and leaves a soft aroma.

Hwayo's official website (as of November 2024) lists as Hwayo retailers GS, CU, 7-Eleven, Ministop and Emart24 convenience stores; large supermarkets including Emart, Lotte Mart, Homeplus and Traders; Shinsegae, Lotte, Hyundai, Galleria and AK department stores; and some Costco locations. However, this information applies to the Hwayo brand as a whole and stock varies by store, so also check the retailers listed below. You can also buy Hwayo at Kwangjuyo's directly operated stores: the Hannam store at 28 Hannam-daero 20-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (02-3446-4800) and the Icheon Center store at 3234 Gyeongchung-daero, Sindun-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi (031-632-4864). The Icheon Center store is a directly operated shop carrying the full Kwangjuyo range, where you can handle the tableware and objects in person. Hwayo 25 is also listed on Shilla Internet Duty Free, but it was temporarily out of stock when checked on September 27, 2026.

When to drinkOn an evening with raw fish or steamed clams, enjoy it chilled and neat, or as a highball with a wedge of lemon.

Where to drink it now

A place to visit · Yeoju Yeongneung (King Sejong's Tomb)

Yeongneung (英陵) is the tomb where Joseon's fourth king, Sejong, and Queen Soheon (소헌왕후) are buried together in a single mound, and it is the first royal tomb of the Joseon dynasty to bury a king and queen together. It originally stood in what is now Seoul and was moved to its present site in Yeoju in 1469. The Royal Tombs and Palaces Center of the Korea Heritage Service presents the site as “Yeoju Yeongneung and Yeongneung” (여주 영릉과 영릉).

According to the Korea Heritage Service Royal Tombs and Palaces Center's guidance in September 2026, visiting hours for September and October are 09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00), and the site is closed every Monday. When a Monday falls on a public holiday, the site stays open and closes on the next day that is not a holiday. A visit during the festival, October 23–25 (Fri–Sun), falls within these hours and does not coincide with the Monday closure. Admission is 500 won for adults, and inquiries can go to the Sejong the Great Heritage Site Management Office (세종대왕유적관리소, 031-880-4700).

The place to visit alongside it is Silleuksa. A leading temple of Yeoju, set at the foot of Mt. Bongmisan (봉미산) on the bank overlooking the Namhangang River (남한강), it was also nicknamed “Byeokjeol” (벽절, the Brick Temple) for its multistory pagoda built of stacked bricks. In 1472 (the 3rd year of King Seongjong's reign) it was designated the votive temple for King Sejong's Yeongneung and for a time went by the name Boeunsa (보은사). The Yeoju Ogok Naru Festival introduced earlier is also held around the Silleuksa tourist area.