Captain Q Is Back: 360 mL for 9,900 Won at 7-Eleven Oct. 21

As of October 18, 2026, Lotte Chilsung Beverage's Captain Q, a Korean-made spirit, is coming back after 11 years off the market. Starting Oct. 21, 7-Eleven stores nationwide will sell a 360 mL bottle for 9,900 won (about $7), with 20% off through the 31st for customers paying with Woori Card.

9,900 won (~$7)Captain Q 360 mL convenience store price

35%Captain Q alcohol by volume

300,000Captain Q searches in the 7-Eleven app (Oct. 9-16)

25%This year's sales growth for whiskey and spirits under 20,000 won

Key points

7-Eleven will sell Captain Q 360 mL for 9,900 won at stores nationwide starting Oct. 21.
Customers paying with Woori Card get 20% off through the 31st.
The new bottle keeps the old bottle and label design, but uses 99% Caribbean rum and a new barrel-aging process.
A limited-edition treasure box package of 12,000 sets came out first, and 7-Eleven's allotment sold out in a day.

According to 7-Eleven, which announced the news on the 18th, Captain Q goes on sale at stores nationwide starting Oct. 21. The bottle is 360 mL and costs 9,900 won. Through the 31st, a promotion also takes 20% off for customers paying with Woori Card.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage launched the Korean-made spirit around the start of the 1980s. It was cheap and strong at 35% ABV, and it reportedly sold 10 million bottles in its first year. After production stopped in 2015, it lived on for about a decade as a nostalgia drink, and among drinkers it earned a reputation for being so harsh that a hangover supposedly lasted two days.

The relaunch brings back the old look, including the bottle shape, cap and label. What changed is the part that affects taste. The liquid is 99% Caribbean rum, aged first in barrels that previously held bourbon, then finished in a second barrel from the family of Spanish sherry wine casks.

A limited-edition treasure box package came out first, on the 14th. It holds two bottles of Captain Q plus a commemorative glass and coin, in 12,000 sets total. Of those, 1,980 include a 1.5 don (a traditional Korean unit, about 5.6 g) pure silver coin. 7-Eleven said its allotment sold out one day after release.

In the 7-Eleven app's stock-finder feature, Captain Q was searched more than 300,000 times from Oct. 9 to 16, accounting for about 15% of all searches in that period. The chain's whiskey and spirits sales are up 15% this year over last year. Budget products under 20,000 won (about $14) rose 25%, outpacing the average. Its Black Circle whiskey line, launched last February at 10,000 to 20,000 won a bottle, has also passed 1 million bottles sold.

In Korea right nowWith prices still high in Korea, demand for cheap, high-proof liquor has been flowing to convenience stores. Add the 'newtro' trend (a fresh take on retro products), and Captain Q's return became a talking point. A 7-Eleven merchandiser said shoppers increasingly buy a product's history and backstory along with the product itself, and expects it to bring nostalgia for middle-aged and older drinkers and curiosity for younger ones. Lotte Chilsung is likewise betting on newtro spending and the budget-whiskey craze to win over a new set of customers.

FAQ

Where can I buy Captain Q, and for how much?

7-Eleven stores nationwide will sell a 360 mL bottle for 9,900 won starting Oct. 21.

Can anyone get the discount?

The 20% discount applies only to Woori Card payments and runs through the 31st of this month.

Is it the same drink as the old Captain Q?

The bottle, label design and brand identity carry over, but the ingredients and aging process are different. It uses 99% rum and is aged in two types of oak barrels in stages.