Captain Q Treasure Box Sells Out in a Day; the Bottle Returns to Korean Convenience Stores Oct. 21
What sold out in a day was not just a bottle but a box of nostalgia. Captain Q, the Korean liquor that vanished in 2015, is back, and Seven-Eleven app searches for it topped 300,000 in eight days. From Oct. 21, the regular 360ml bottle goes on shelves at KRW 9,900.
A treasure box gone in a day
Lotte Chilsung launched Captain Q in 1980, a rum-based Korean liquor. It was discontinued in 2015 and is back after about a decade. The bottle, cap and label look exactly as before; the liquid has been improved.
The 'Captain Q Treasure Box' package released on Oct. 14 sold through its prepared stock in a day. Hankyung reports 12,000 limited sets, and 1,980 of them, a nod to 1980, include a 1.5-don pure-silver coin.
300,000 app searches
Between Oct. 9 and 16, Seven-Eleven app users searched for 'Captain Q' more than 300,000 times, 15% of all stock-finder searches. Not soju, not beer: one old bottle took over the search bar.
The folk saying that you stay hung over for two days has only added to the buzz, with parents' memories and young shoppers' curiosity meeting on the same shelf.
Taegeukdang bread rides the same wave
GS25 teamed up with Taegeukdang, the Seoul bakery founded in 1946. Its Butter Cream Bread, released on Oct. 14, ranked No. 1 in sales among about 70 chilled dessert breads. Oranda Bread and Mini Mammoth Bread followed on Oct. 16.
Seven-Eleven says its nurungji and yakgwa snacks (three kinds) and a hallabong-cream snack have sold more than 150,000 units since late September.
The 'newtro' numbers
Seven-Eleven's whisky and liquor sales rose 15% year on year from Jan. 1 to Oct. 16. Products under KRW 20,000 rose 25%, beating the overall growth rate.
Song Seung-bae, Seven-Eleven's beverage and liquor MD, said shoppers increasingly buy "the history and story of a product along with the product."
Before you buy
Regular sales start on Oct. 21: a 360ml, 35% ABV bottle at KRW 9,900. From Oct. 21 to 31, paying with Woori Card takes 20% off, a perk Seven-Eleven says only it offers among the three big chains.
The Treasure Box is already gone. The app's stock finder is the quickest way to check a nearby store.
Sources & context
2026-10-18T02:16:00.341Z
eToday · report on the convenience-store 'newtro' boom (Oct. 18, 2026) ↗JKN · report on Seven-Eleven's Oct. 21 Captain Q sale (Oct. 18, 2026) ↗Hankyung · report on Captain Q's relaunch (Oct. 18, 2026) ↗Seven-Eleven's 'Captain Q Treasure Box' package, released on Oct. 14. Photo: courtesy of Seven-Eleven
GS25's Taegeukdang collaboration: Butter Cream Bread, Oranda Bread and Mini Mammoth Bread. Photo: courtesy of GS25