Kyrö Distillery is a Finnish distillery that makes rye whisky and gin. The company was started in 2012, allegedly during a discussion in a Sauna. The founders appear to have kept a sense of humor as core to their identity, and their site (which is somewhat NSFW) has some pretty fun accounts of the company history, including a rather oddball introductory video.

They use Finland-grown rye for their distillation.

Kyrö wood smoke is made from 100% malted finnish whole-grain rye. Following an old northern tradition the malt is alder smoked in a 100-year-old barn. The whisky is double pot-distilled and matured in ex-bourbon, French oak and new American white oak barrels, resulting in intense pepperyness and sweet notes of caramel and vanilla lifted by crisp alder smoke.

47.2% ABV. NAS.

I could not find anything on their website about chill filtration or color, but I did see some reviews saying that they use neither. I can’t validate those claims, so let’s take that with a grain of salt.

Nose: oatcakes, grapefruit, red licorice

Palate: Swedish fish (does Finland make their own version?!?), wax, almond, rye, pine, subtle campfire smoke.

Finish: A thick, oily mouthfeel producing tobacco and juniper flavors gives way to candied fruit mixed with a lingering tannic bitter note that eventually fades to a mild pine.

Notes: I am not sure what I expected from a “peated Finnish rye whisky”, but this… most definitely was not it. The nose also did not prepare me for the taste. I found the nose pretty inviting, if a little overly sweet (more licorice than oatcake by far). The taste, though, is very different. It was actually sweeter than the nose suggested, which is saying something, but there’s a lot of complexity on the palate. The finish was also surprising, changing the character from “eating booze-soaked candy in the forest” to “did I just drink whisky-flavored gin?”.

Overall, I liked this, particularly for the complexity and because it’s very, very far from any other whisky I’ve ever had, but in general it was far too sweet for me. I haven’t had a lot of grain whisky, but what I have had I’ve found a bit too sweet for my liking, so this is probably more of a personal preference thing than a deficiency in the whisky itself.

Score: 7.9/10

Scoring guide

0 - Undrinkable

1 - Awful

2 - Bad

3 - Flawed

4 - Below Average

5 - Average / Mediocre

6 - Above Average / Decent

7 - Good; a solid choice

8 - Great; I’d happily drink this any day

9 - Excellent; for truly special occasions

10 - Mythical/perfect