Kyrö Distillery Company was established by Miika Lipiäinen, Mikko Koskinen, Kalle Valkonen, Miko Heinilä and Jouni Ritola on 29 August 2012 in Isokyrö, Finland. The distillery itself was built next to the River Kyrö in a 1908-built cheese factory which used to produce Finnish Oltermanni cheese, and was inspired by an ingredient they considered vital in their country: rye. Reportedly they first discussed the idea after lamenting the lack of rye whisky distilleries in Finland, while sitting in a sauna and drinking American rye whisky.
Given that the founders had absolutely zero distillery experience prior to this venture, they spent a while visiting micro-distilleries and still makers around Europe to build a knowledge base. They eventually created the recipes that define Kyrö, all 100% whole-grain rye based, whether it’s whisky, gin or any other spirits. Regular and small batches are produced at the Isokyrö-based distillery in a 1200-litre copper still. When gin is distilled the botanical mix is added in the form of concentrates from locally foraged herbs, as the short summer in Finland would not allow them to produce gin year-round otherwise.
Napue Gin is Kyrö's flagship product, named after the 1714 Battle of Napue which was fought close to the distillery's location during the Great Northern Wa. Production began in 2014 and, as of 2017, 600,000 bottles of Napue are produced per year and exported to over 40 countries. It has received widespread recognition and acclaim since its release, winning the Gin and Tonic Trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 2015 and a gold medal in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition's premium gin series in 2016.
Napue is not the only Kyrö product to have received recognition, however. In 2016, Juuri Unaged Rye won a gold medal in the Whisky category of the International Spirit Awards (ISW), while in 2017, Koskue Aged Gin won a gold medal in the San Francisco World Spirit Competition.
The visual identity for the company came courtesy of Helsinki-based design agency Werklig, who actually designed a custom typeface called ‘Napue Sans’, which was inspired by memorial engravings of the Battle of Napue and is used in all of Kyrö's products and media, including its logo. This innovative step was one of many reasons why Kyrö was shortlisted for the Cannes Lions' Premium Packaging category and, in 2015, it won second place in the Spirits category of the Dieline Awards for package design.