Suddenly it’s been ten years!

A group of friends sat in a sauna, having some drams and dreaming. That was the start of Kyr? Distillery – now a ten year old all-rye distillery making award-winning spirits in Isokyr?, Finland.

It was an ordinary weekend to be honest. A group of friends were enjoying the first warmer nights of the upcoming summer. As usual in Finland, sauna was heated, some drinks were poured and conversations got deeper.

Miika Lipi?inen had brought a bottle of American rye whisky to the sauna and while sipping on that, the fellas started pondering why no one was making whisky out of Finnish rye.

Long story short, that’s exactly what they decided to do: whisky out of 100 percent Finnish rye.

Old dairy in Isokyr? became the home of Kyr?

When it was time to do the first distillation a garage was turned into a fermentation hall. Closest stills were hundreds of kilometres away so the batch was transported to Pori. At this point none of the five founders of Kyr? had no idea how to make whisky, and even less knowledge they had about how moonshine should taste like.?

So a spirit sample was taken to the International Whisky Show in London (where Miika poured samples to tasting glasses while hiding in a toilet) and given to the best whisky distillers in the world.

“If this is what you are up to, I have to step up my game”, said one of them.

It seemed they were indeed on to something. The five founders started looking for a place to place the proper stills in.

Soon they found the old dairy in Isokyr? where cheese had been made for a century but premises were now empty. With some renovations it would be a perfect spot for a distillery!

History was rewritten (with Napue Sans)

It was only a year after Kyr? got the official distilling license when Miika’s phone rang. He was biking in rainy Estonia, enjoying the two days of summer holiday he afforded to take off. The boys had sent a sample of their rye based Napue Gin to the International Wine and Spirits Competition to get some feedback. A lady with English accent said on the phone she knew nothing of the company called Kyr?, but that they had won the “Best Gin for Gin & Tonic” award.?

We sold out in three days when then news got out. Suddenly that crazy idea that popped into our head in a sauna had turned into something that was about to change not only the lives of the five founders but so much more.

Ten years and counting

It took us some time to get the first proper batch of rye whisky out, but during the pandemic that happened. Cheers to that.?

Then we ended up producing the hand sanitizer. We were able to help institutions critical to society and no layoffs were needed as the new product kept the production going.

We also developed a new marketing model that last year helped us grow our German market by 120 percent – even though the pandemic closed the crucially important restaurant business.

Mikko Koskinen, one of the five founders, was in charge of the German market, but last week when we raised a glass to the ten year old Kyr?, we also raised a glass for his future journeys that will take him to Iceland to work on something totally different.?

Before getting on the plane Mikko promised his butt will always belong to Kyr?.?And our drinks will always belong to those who want to enjoy the good spirits in good company.?