William Grant & Sons’ Green Jacket whisky to hit Vietnam

William Grant & Sons Korea Ltd., Korean subsidiary of the world-renowned Scotch whisky maker, will launch its premium low-alcohol whisky Green Jacket in Vietnam to take a lead in the country’s growing soft spirit market.

The Korean operation aims to sell 3,500 six-pack Green Jacket boxes in Vietnam by the end of the year and 20,000 boxes within the next three years, it said on Monday.

Launched in 2016, Green Jacket is the first whisky to be produced by an Asian subsidiary in the Scotch whisky maker’s 130-year history. William Grant & Sons, founded in Scotland, is famous for Glenfiddich and Balvenie single malt whiskies.

The alcohol content of Green Jacket is on the low side at 36.5 percent compared to most other whiskies which range above 40 percent.

The company said its decision to market Green Jacket in Vietnam was backed by the growing preference for softer spirits in line with the country’s fast growing GDP as well as the wave of Korean pop culture that has taken the region by storm. The Vietnamese whisky market, currently worth about $94,000, is expanding at an annual 7 percent.

It also plans to take Green Jacket to Cambodia, Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia.

The name Green Jacket is derived from the green jacket awarded to the champion of the Masters Golf Tournament to imply that it is the perfect celebratory drink for people who have reached the pinnacle of success, according to the company.

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