First Impressions
On 10 May 2012, five Finnish friends — Miika Lipäinen, Jouni Ritola, Mikko Koskinen, Kalle Valkonen and Miko Heinilä — were sitting in a sauna drinking American rye whisky when they asked a simple question: why doesn't Finland make rye whisky? Finland grows the best rye in the world. The idea still felt right the next morning. They found a disused dairy in Isokyrö — an old milk processing plant being used as a garage — and converted it into a distillery. The gin, named Napue after a nearby historical battle site, was made to fund the whisky while it aged. In 2015, it won the inaugural IWSC award for World's Best Gin for Gin & Tonic. They sold out in two days.
Tasting
A rye-base spirit distilled with sixteen botanicals — ten disclosed, six secret. The Finnish wild botanicals are the stars: cranberries, sea buckthorn, birch leaves and meadowsweet, all freshly picked and locally sourced. The nose is strong, piney juniper with hints of wild fruit and grass, the rye base providing subtle grainy warmth with Nordic freshness from birch and sea buckthorn. On the palate, juniper leads with nutty rye character, cranberry tartness, coriander and cardamom spice, sweet floral meadowsweet, and birch leaf providing a distinctly green, Nordic quality. Pepper and paprika add warmth. The finish is dry and crisp with herbal undertones, the rye base carrying more body than neutral grain would.
The Bottom Line
Kyrö Napue earns an 8 — the gin born to fund a whisky that became more famous than the whisky itself. Winning World's Best Gin for G&T at its first attempt is extraordinary; doing it from a converted dairy in a Finnish village of 1,200 people is the stuff of distilling legend. The rye base gives it body and warmth that neutral grain cannot provide, and the Finnish wild botanicals — cranberry, birch, sea buckthorn — taste of a landscape most gin drinkers will never visit. Five friends in a sauna had an idea. The idea was right.
