It all starts with salmon soup

I started at Kyr? in February of 2020, a great time if ever to start a new job. My first official Kyr?-in-Berlin assignment was working our housewarming party for the flat we’d rented as Kyr? GmbH. I knew no one except for my new boss, Mikko.

People were busy preparing and I felt useless until Max, our German Brand Ambassador, had to do a last-minute run to pick up boxes of Kyr? Gin and Malt Whisky because the shipping company had sent them to a wrong location. He was meant to make Lohikeitto (the extremely iconic Finnish salmon soup) and in his absence, I took over, knowing I’d feel comfortable in the kitchen. In between googling Lohikeitto recipes (and trying to figure out how to pronounce it), I crowdsourced the Finns. Adding carrots, as our head distiller Kalle suggested, and reserving a bunch of dill to add last to ensure its fresh, herby addition to the soup wouldn’t get lost.

While serving, I told guests that it was my Finnish grandmother’s recipe, jokingly adding a pinch of authenticity to the bowl. However, people believed me hook, line, and sinker. To this day, Kalle and I joke about my Finnish grandmother and how proud she’d be of me working for Kyr?.

I think the above nicely sums up what it’s been like to represent a small, but feisty Finnish distillery company in Germany. I’ve taken up some Finnish habits (namely – sauna) and try my best to convey the magical quality of Isokyr?, the people, and the distillery. I remember my first visit to Isoykyr? in August 2020 so fondly. It felt like stepping into the Nordic books of my childhood. The fact that our products are objectively of high quality, no matter how subjective taste might be, has been an incredible tool in our arsenal. Serving non-whisky drinkers that first sip of Kyr? Malt Rye and watching them swallow the amber liquid in surprise, often professing their astonishment at just how smooth it is, never gets old.

In the span of almost three years, we’ve gone from people barely knowing how to pronounce our name (a lot of Keyro???), to actively recognizing our bottles. A fact I feel extremely proud of Kyr? in my hometown of Berlin.

Most Germans have some sort of connection, or at least understanding, to the Nordics. Be that summers spent in Sweden or road trips to Denmark. Even if they’ve never really thought of Finland, there tends to be an inherent interest in the country. Add to that the story of rye, a grain Germans are also very familiar with, and we’re almost in.

Not to say that it’s been easy. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and I mean that very literally) have been poured into growing our share in the German market. Why choose a Finnish bottle over a German one? Why purchase a bottle of all rye Finnish whisky? We’ll try and explain why, hopefully over a dram or two.