“We are a new distillery from a region not known for either gins or whiskies and the only rye we’ve exported has been rye bread so we needed to do something new and different,” says co-founder Lipiäinen.
Miika Lipiäinen, centre back with fellow Kyrö co-founders Jouni Ritola, Kalle Valkonen, Miko Heinilä and Mikko Koskinen
Peter Dean: How did Kyrö come about as a brand?
Miika Lipiäinen: Me and my co-founders fell in love with rye whisky in 2011. In Finland we grow up on rye bread, rye porridge, rye everything and we kept on wondering why no one has started making whisky out of rye in Finland. During a sauna getaway (as you do in Finland) in 2012 we decided to do something about it.
Is it normal for new business ideas in Finland to originate from five naked men?
You’d be surprised how many business ideas come out of sitting around in a sauna and letting your mind wander. The same magic formula works for all genders and at least the clothes aren’t in the way!
Kyrö head distiller Kalle Valkonen
Why rye whisky? And what are the strengths and challenges of working with rye?
We love rye in Finland, we’ve just never made great spirits out of it. Rye fits our soil very well and in our region, you get up to 22 hours of sunlight per day in the summer. So, while the growing season is short, it packs our rye with intense taste. The difficulty is the stickiness – rye sticks to everything. Our whole production infrastructure and our skills have grown around getting the most out of unfiltered, full-bodied rye.
To what extent do you want rye to be a part of the flavour profile of both your whisky and gin?
The way we understand the taste of rye is not as spicy, hot, peppery like in most US ryes but rather an earthy, sweeter type of rye. This profile is fantastic and comes out just as such in the whisky. In the gin you don’t taste the rye itself, but it provides a great canvas to highlight the flavors and textures of the local botanicals we put in, such as sea buckthorn and birch leaves.
What does rye bring to gin as opposed to other base spirits?
The base alcohol of gin is all about the texture of the spirit. What it does to the width and length of the palate and mouthfeel. We’ve tried our gin on a barley and a wheat alcohol base and the same botanical recipe just turns out different!
Which is your main focus – rye whisky or rye gin?
Right now, we’re still selling much more gin since we have not had enough whisky to sell. However, the idea of Kyrö is to serve our customers fantastic spirits for different tastes and occasions which we can do by having both. The fact that we want to be the world’s best distillers of rye allows us to keep the quality up in both.
Your gin used to be called Napue, and was award-winning, so why change the name?
We chose Napue (name of the village where our distillery is) as the name of the gin since in Finland we’re not allowed to promote spirits. Because of this, if we had selected Kyrö as the original name of the gin, we couldn’t promote our company at all. Later on it became too cumbersome to talk about both Kyrö and Napue so we axed the latter.
How much whisky and gin are you selling in Finland and abroad? And what are your key export markets?
We’re currently selling over 80,000 real cases of our gins, whiskies and cream liqueur. Germany, US and the UK are our largest markets outside of Finland and adjoining Travel Retail.
Kyrö’s clean Nordic style
Kyrö has a distinct look – talk us through how it came about
We are a new distillery from a region not known for either gins or whiskies and the only rye we’ve exported has been rye bread so we needed to do something new and different. The typeface we use in all our packaging and marketing materials is respectfully boosted from the Napue war memorial next to our distillery. Also we wanted this tension between the clean, Nordic style design we have and the light-hearted copy on all our products. We can’t take ourselves too seriously nor make everything a strained conceptual exercise.
How are you looking to distribute Kyrö in the UK?
We’re imported by a UK importer and then sold on to key wholesalers, to trade directly and through our own website as direct-to-consumer. Quite a traditional model in many aspects especially since post Brexit there’s a lot of friction on the admin side.
Who do you see as your core customers? Premium bars and specialist retailers?
You should always find us in places where you’d expect to encounter Nordic design, tastes and lifestyle. This ranges from independent shops to concept stores to cocktail bars and upscale pubs. Right now a big priority for us is also making our first national listing in Waitrose work well. Look out for us increasingly also in upscale festivals and summer terraces.
Kyrö tasting sets are an integral part of introducing the brand into new markets
What are your marketing plans?
In 2023 we will promote a very down-to-earth way of Nordic wellbeing which includes mindful drinking, emphasis on communities, real (as opposed to signaling) hedonism, outdoors experiences and of course sauna. This means for instance participation in events and festivals, running content on these topics, working and even creating products with partners and likeminded brands locally in the UK and Germany.
How did you manage to work through the pandemic?
Honestly, the pandemic did take a lot out of the team. We had just finished our new whisky distillery and strategy and were raring to go. We got through with a combination of hand sanitizer manufacturing, grit (or sisu, as we call it in Finland) and by giving and receiving support from our suppliers, partners and customers.
What have you found most surprising and challenging about creating your own brand?
How do you describe rye to people who have never had great rye bread! Looking at all of you in the UK. We must walk the long road here and just have people taste or whiskies with us. We’ll get there in the end.
What plans do you have in the pipeline for other spirits and variants?
Right now it’s all about getting our whisky out there while making sure our gins and cream liqueur are served in the right places in the right ways. In whisky we’ve got our Rye Malt and our Wood Smoke Rye out right now with Freshwater Peat editions and our real top-end series coming up with a slow burn release starting late 2023. In the future we’ll keep our eyes open to everything we can distill out of Finnish rye.
Miika Lipiäinen, centre back with fellow Kyrö co-founders Jouni Ritola, Kalle Valkonen, Miko Heinilä and Mikko Koskinen
Who are the key people behind the company?
Me and three of my fellow co-founders still play an integral role in the company today. Since January 2022, Jouni Ritola has held the position of CEO of Kyrö Distillery Company. He is now based in Chicago to drive the US market forward and now has successfully penetrated the European drinks sector. Kalle Valkonen has been a staple of Kyrö Distillery’s journey in creating our much-loved all-rye whisky and gin products and has been the head distiller since 2014. Miko Heinilä oversees leadership management at Kyrö. He is an isokyrö local who was savvy enough to lure the rest of the founding team to build the distillery in an old dairy next to his home on the banks of the Kyrö river.
Whilst no longer operationally involved with the company, Mikko Koskinen played a crucial role in Kyrö’s growth, especially its new growth phase in Germany. Finally, I am based in London now, overseeing the UK market for the company.
So what are the products and how do they taste?
Kyrö Gin (46.3% ABV) 500ml, RRP £29.95
Tasting notes: Herbal and sweet, birch and gentle citrus on the nose, ending with notes of pepper and rye on the tongue
Kyrö Dark Gin (42.6% ABV) 500ml, RRP £31.95
Tasting notes: Oak and orange with a hint of flowery meadow on the nose. Honey, orange and pepper, with vanilla from the oak
Kyrö Pink Gin (38.2% ABV) 500ml, RRP £29.95
Tasting notes: Soft and smooth, with notes of rhubarb custard and fresh red berries, ending with strawberry and juniper.
Kyrö Malt (47.2% ABV) 500ml, RRP £49.95
Tasting notes: Dried fruits, caramel and countryside on the nose. A mouthful of flavour: walnuts, malt, vanilla and red berry jam. Spiciness of rye and a touch of ginger in the finish.
Kyrö Wood Smoke (42.6% ABV) 500 ml, RRP £49.95
Tasting notes: Robust and spicy rye lifted by a touch of crisp alder smoke.
Kyrö Dairy Cream (16% ABV) 500ml, RRP £21.95
Tasting notes: Fresh dairy milk, caramel, with a hint of salt and liquorice.
Kyrö is available in independents across London and online at www.kyrodistillery.com. You can contact Miika Lipiäinen on miika@kyrodistillery.com
