Kyochon's Fermentation Workshop 1991 nominated for South Korea's top tourism landmark list

Kyochon Food & Beverage announced Thursday that Fermentation Workshop 1991, its agricultural corporation, has been nominated in two categories of the "Korea Landmark Discovery 100×100 Project," a national tourism initiative run jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization.

The project draws on 100 travel themes recommended by travel journalists, travel writers and regional tourism experts, then holds a public vote to select 100 landmark destinations per theme — 10,000 in total. Fermentation Workshop 1991 earned nominations in two of the eight major categories: "Let's Go Drink Now — Proud of Our Liquor" under the gastronomy category, and "New-tro Dive: Cultural Regeneration Spaces" under the culture, arts and tradition category.

Located in Yeongyang-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, Fermentation Workshop 1991 is a century-old brewery that Kyochon Food & Beverage and Yeongyang-gun restored from a distillery originally established in 1926, reopening it in 2022. The facility produces premium makgeolli brewed entirely from top-grade rice grown in Yeongyang, drawing on a modern reinterpretation of "gamhyangju," a spoonable makgeolli recorded in "Eumsik dimibang," the first Korean-language cookbook written in hangul. Its lineup includes "Eunhasu Byeolheneunbam" (12 percent alcohol by volume) and "Eunhasu Makgeolli" (6 and 8 percent). "Eunhasu Byeolheneunbam" won the grand prize in the high-alcohol turbid rice wine category at last year's Korea Traditional Liquor Competition and was later selected as the official dinner wine for the trade and foreign ministers' joint meeting at the 2025 APEC Summit.

Visitors to Fermentation Workshop 1991 can explore a century of brewing history inside a preserved traditional wooden distillery. An in-house cafe also serves makgeolli and desserts.

Public voting runs through Friday on the "Travel Month" page of the Korea Tourism Organization's "Corners of Korea" website. All voters are automatically entered into a prize draw, with prizes worth a combined 30 million won ($20,100) — including an LG StanbyME Go portable display, a CJ Group dining voucher and mobile Onuri gift certificates.