Cuisine & Wine Asia — May-June 2017

GO

+

SHOP

I

n 2012, five young men

decided to build an all-rye

distillery in Isokyrö, Finland.

Made from malted rye, the

whisky is double distilled and

aged in white oak casks in

what used to be the cheese-aging room of a dairy.

Botanicals such as meadow sweet, seabuckthorn,

birch leaves and wild cranberry are foraged locally

for Napue gin, which was named The World’s Best

Gin & Tonic at the International Wine & Spirits

Competition in 2015. The scent of Finnish meadows

gives way to herbal and citrusy flavours, and a

cumin-like finish. Koskue gin, matured in small oak

barrels for six to 12 weeks, has the scent of summer

flowers and honey over a concentration of orange

peels, vanilla, and black pepper. Juuri rye, with hints

of licorice root and aniseed opening into a palate of

traditional spiced Finnish rye bread, works perfectly

as the base for craft cocktails. In the restaurant and

bar located on the same premises, menu items such

as braised lamb with rye, salmon with cranberries

and rosemary, and seabuckthorn with sour milk and

roasted white chocolate have been crafted with the

gin in centerstage. QL

Finnish Spirit

Kyrö gin ( priced at SGD$92 per bottle)

is distributed in Singapore by La Maison du Whisky

Tel: (65) 6733 0059

*Photography courtesy of Kyrö Distillery.