“Dream and Dare responsibly”
Welcome to GINblogger’s new ‘Request Show’ where we pass judgement on a spirit suggested by one of our followers. Actually, to be honest, it’s the first time we’ve been introduced to a new gin by a reader as opposed to friends or some friendly bar tender with the time to share their wisdom.
Thank you then to Peter Whisker, who contacted us a couple of weeks back to say how much he enjoys this 46.3% distillation from the Isokyro area of Finland; that lake strewn buffer state between Norway and the former Soviet Union; famed for its slow grown timber and far faster rally drivers, like the legendary Timo Makinen.
Finnish rally drivers like Timo Makinen excel on ice and loose gravel
We of course had to wait a week for Amazon to deliver the shallow shouldered half-litre bottle and I should say at this point that I’m writing this blog because Juliet really didn’t like the taste: though she couldn’t decide why. My view was quite different and I’ve been enjoying the odd sundowner in the sweltering heat of early August, though I’ve yet to try the maker’s recommended serve with a sprig of rosemary, cranberries, ice and tonic.
Finland’s landscape is full of lakes and forests
The label on our bottle identifies the batch as being from October 2019, and informs us that Kyro contains four foraged botanicals, so I’d guess there is the likelihood of some seasonal variation to the flavour, as Ten Tor owned up to with the autumn collection we sampled a year or so back. It also tells buyers to “Dream and dare responsibly” as well as that the rye based drink has a heart of wild nature and naked ambition: presumably for when you’ve finished rolling in the snow after a superheated sauna.
Previously known as Napue, the flavour of Kyro Gin is apparently founded on the inclusion of sea buckthorn as well as cranberries and birch leaves. I wonder if the latter impart a slight hint of bitterness, which could have coloured Juliet’s conclusion, but I think it adds another dimension to the juniper and pure Finnish rye spirit.
The distillation process is also divided into three steps: maceration, vapour infusion and fresh distillation in copper stills.
While our regular readers will know our Top Ten of gins hasn’t changed in a while, I’d have to say that Kyro is bubbling under – somewhere in my Top 20; and one I’d urge other gin fans to have a listen to. To end then I’m going to follow the example of some request show DJs and play us out with a song that I think is relevant – sort of – to the theme track.
