Hiscot officially merges with Korea’s Hite-Jinro

Korean drinks company Hite-Jinro Group has fully merged its Scotch whisky subsidiary Hiscot into its fold.

Growing sales of Hiscot’s Kingdom 12-year old Scotch prompted Hite-Jinro to bring it back in-house

Having been a subsidiary of Hite-Jinro since 1993, Hiscot, which owns Kingdom blended Scotch whisky, officially made the merge on 1 July.

Kingdom, crafted by former Edrington Master Blender John Ramsay that earned more than 12 awards in 2011, has seen a marked rise in consumption as Korean consumer tastes evolve, prompting Hite-Jinro to bring the brand along with Hiscot’s existing portfolio, in-house.

“In the Korean market, customer’s drinking habits are changing,” said Won Cheol Lee, general director of imported spirits sector at Hite-Jinro. “Until recently, the Korean alcoholic beverage market used to be all about domestic brands such as the domestic blended Scotch whisky, Soju and domestic beer. But the significant rise in consumption of imported alcoholic beverages we’re now seeing would indicate that customer buying habits will be shifting in the near future.

“Therefore, as is the case with many other alcoholic beverage businesses, we have taken the decision to strengthen our imported product portfolio. By merging Hiscot, Hite-Jinro group has greatly strengthened its coverage in the imported beer and spirits category.”

Hiscot also owns Lancelot premium Scotch and a selection of wines, and imports a variety of wines and spirits.

The move follows Hite-Jinro’s decision last month to sell its 30% stake in Pernod Ricard Korea Imperial to Pernod Ricard for €48m cash.