Plum or Japanese Apricot ?

 

Maechwisun is the one of my favorite alcoholic beverages made with plume or Japanese apricot. My understanding is that the word ‘plum’ is frequently referred to ‘jadu’ rather than ‘Maesil’ in Korea. However, Maesil is the fruit of the Chinese apricot or Japanese apricot. The origin of the plant is far east Asia and bears fruit with a green color from late May to mid-June. If you leave fruits without harvesting them in a green state, they ripen further and become yellow, which is called Hwangmaesil. Hwangmaesil is less sour and sweeter than ordinary Cheongmaesil. Despite the less sour taste, it is said that the citric acid content is twice as high as that of green fruits. The main production areas of these fruits in Korea include Suncheon, Gwangyang, and Hadong.

Since the natural habitat of these plants is Asia and were not found in other English-speaking countries, there is no official word or legitimate translation of them in English. Understandably, both ‘plum’ or ‘Japanese/Chinese apricot are used on many occasions. However, including the famous ‘World Food Atlas’ and many foods & travel sites use ‘plum’ more than ‘apricot’. Therefore, I think usage of plum, plum sake or plum wine is a matter of convention.

Let’s go back to our Maechiwsun!

Maechwisun is a plum (hereafter I use plum referring to maesil) wine developed by Bohae Brewing. Bohae Brewing is said to have been developed through intensive R&D on plum wine, including the creation of a plum farm in 1979 after obtaining a plum wine license in 1977. This product was released in 1982 under the name of "Maechwi" and had an alcohol content of 25%. Since then, it has been selected as the official Olympic beverage in 1988, and it has gained its current reputation with newly released 14% alcohol content product.

It is characterized by maceration of plum itself in liquor followed by straining like plum wine at home. According to Bohae company, only the undiluted solution that has been aged for at least five years has been used for production processes.

Former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee mentioned praise for Maechisun in his essay collection.  What he was mentioned in his essay is basically that it is very difficult for other competitors to copycat the five-years-long maturation processes and unique quality management of the Bohae. I also agree that this plum wine is unique and especially pair very well with seafoods such as sashimi, sushi, and other dishes made with marine invertebrates.

Even if the product is good, there is a limit to the distribution network as it is a Jeollanam-do-based liquor producer. After 2000 and intervening years, competitors began to target young consumers and they gradually caught up on the market. Eventually, these days Maechisun is not No. 1 product anymore in plum wine market share. As a result, Bohae is trying to impress customers with a newly designed bottles of Bohae Brewing products reminiscent of bokbunja liquor. 

In the past, I tried other plum wines such as Maehwasu and suljungmae. They are also good, but for me Maechwisun is still my most favorite Korean fruit liqor as it remains best accompaniment to many foods I like.