From the sauna to the world map.
Isokyrö
The Kyrö story, like so many other great Finnish things, began in a sauna.
Five friends, one sauna night and a bottle of American rye whiskey
Chapter 1
2012
The idea for Kyrö Distillery Company was born on the sauna benches, as five friends sipped American rye whiskey. It seemed unbelievable that nobody in this rye-loving country was distilling whisky from it. Unexpectedly, the idea of their own rye distillery still seemed good the morning after the sauna night. The Kyrö story had begun.
The dairy
The friends were looking for a suitable space for the distillery, and on the way to an informal meeting they found an empty old dairy on the banks of the Kyrö river. The historic building, built in the early 1900s, was also where Oltermanni – a cheese Finns love – was once developed.
Pori
The mash for the first spirits was made in the garage of Kalle's parents – Kalle having become head distiller. The nearest still, however, was hundreds of kilometres away. The friendly guys at the Beer Hunters brewpub promised to lend theirs. The mash just had to be driven to Pori.
2014
The clear liquid smelled and tasted like moonshine. It was impossible to say what kind of whisky it would mature into. As CEO, Miika Lipiäinen travelled to a whisky fair in London. He smuggled a bottle of rye spirit in his backpack, poured new make into tasting glasses in the men's room and had head distillers from the world's best whisky distilleries taste it. The new make got excellent feedback.
Kyrö's journey continued. The stills in the old dairy heated up for the first time in 2014, and cocktails were served at a pop-up bar in central Helsinki. The "Kyrönmaa Tourism Promotion Centre" drew two kinds of people: the founders' best friends and bewildered pensioners from the neighbourhood.
Napue
Once the first whisky spirit was safely in casks, we realised the bills had to be paid somehow while the whisky matured. We decided to distil gin. A year after we got our distilling licence, Miika's phone rang in the middle of a summer holiday in Estonia.
"We don't know anything about you or your distillery, but your gin has been chosen as the best in the Gin & Tonic category," said a woman's voice, telling us to get ready for the news to go public.
We did our best. We distilled as much as we could. And sold out within two days of the news breaking.
Chapter 2
2014
From the start it was clear we wanted the distillery to be an interesting destination for friends who travel for flavour. The "Kyrönmaa Tourism Promotion Centre" (later simply the Kyrö Visitor Centre) opened at the distillery in August 2014. Every year up to 18,000 visitors come for tastings, distillery tours and events.
2017
This moment had been a long time coming. A long queue wound outside an Alko store in Helsinki when the first batch of Kyrö whisky went on sale in 2017. After limited pre-releases, Kyrö Malt joined the permanent range in autumn 2019, and the very next year it won gold at the IWSC.
A new whisky distillery and cask warehouse were completed, multiplying our production capacity.
We set up a sales office in Germany and took over the streets of Neukölln in Berlin with outdoor advertising.
2020
2020 changed the world in other ways too. When the bars closed, we turned our attention away from whisky for a while and put our know-how and staff to work making hand sanitiser. We wanted to do our part in a difficult situation, answer society's urgent need and be useful. The sanitiser went to hospitals and care homes, and was sold to consumers at a kiosk in Helsinki.
2023
Kyrö Peat Smoke, which gets its character from Finnish freshwater peat, completed our core range of four whiskies – and helped us open a bunch of new export markets in 2023.
Finnair's centenary was celebrated with a special release matured at the airport.
Kyröfest, first held in 2016, sold out in advance for the first time. Our tiny yard party had grown into an alternative festival people travelled to from all over Finland – the most devoted even from abroad.
2024
In 2024 we went back to our roots in spirit. We started Kyrö Sauna Stories, a series of premium whiskies whose limited annual releases are finished in a sauna.
We built a pop-up bar and a real sauna in central Helsinki.
We also brought the sauna to the whisky shop at Helsinki Airport, where you could get to know the whiskies by smelling the steam.
Today
Over the years the Kyrö distillery has grown from a wild dream into an international success story and a master of rye flavours. Since 2021 we've been on the list of the world's 50 most admired whiskies. The story began with American rye whiskey sipped in a sauna – and rye is still everything to us.
