Tasting

Finnish whisky rarely tastes of smoke, but almost always of spice. The rye that defines most bottlings brings a peppery, slightly sharp note. Distillers like to round it out with brown sugar and toasted oak from the cask. Anyone tasting a glass of Kyrö Malt Rye Whisky for the first time often catches clove or caraway before the cask's sweetness comes through. Even the color reveals something: ranging from pale straw to warm amber, it shows how long a cask has matured in Isokyrö.

Teerenpeli Single Malt 5 yo, the very first fully Finnish whisky, tastes closer to Scottish tradition by comparison: milder, with more malt and less bite. Between these two styles, rye from Isokyrö and malt from Lahti, you can taste nearly the whole country without ever leaving Finland.

Since 2024, Kyrö's Sauna Stories series has offered a third path. The bottles are named after the very place where the distillery's founding idea took shape – the sauna itself. Tasting them side by side quickly reveals just how varied the voice of a country can be, one that has been bottling its own whisky for barely two decades.

The difference is best tasted neat or with a few drops of still water, never chilled with ice. Cold in the glass suppresses exactly the spice notes that define Finnish rye whisky. A small, bulbous nosing glass helps more here than a wide tumbler. If you have the time, let the glass sit for a few minutes before the first sip – that's when the rye truly opens up.