Koskue Barrel Aged Dark Gin Review

Following on from the success of Kyrö’s rye gin Napue (winner of the inaugural IWSC Gin & Tonic Trophy), this is an aged gin from the Finnish distillery. Botanicals include birch, meadowsweet, cranberry and orange peel and the gentleman at Kyrö suggest using it in an Old Fashioned for a bright summery take on this classic cocktail.

Kyrö distillery changed their product names in 2019 so Koskue is nowadays known as Kyrö Dark Gin and Napue is simply known as Kyrö Gin. They changed the names to make it easier for customers to assimilate them.

Award winning barrel aged gin

Kyrö Dark Gin aka Koskue is a union of Finnish wholegrain rye and 17 spices and botanicals. It’s been aged in American oak barrels for 3-12 months.

In 2018 Koskue was chosen as the best barrel aged gin out of 40 gins in British Gin Masters competition.

Folks at Kyrö suggest you to enjoy it hot or cold with cloudy apple juice, cinnamon and a slice of fresh apple. You can check out more cocktail suggestions at the end of this article.

Koskue Gin Scoring

Koskue Gin & Tonic recipes

1. Koskue Old Fashioned

Koskue’s perfect blend of rye, local botanicals and American white oak cask maturation makes it the ideal base for almost all classic whisky cocktails.

Ingredients:

• 4 cl Kyrö Koskue
• 1 bar spoon vanilla syrup or oleo saccharum
• dash of Angostura Bitters
• splash of soda water

Directions:

Measure Koskue into a glass, add vanilla syrup (or oleo saccharum). Throw in a dash of bitters and a splash of soda water. Add plenty of ice and stir rapidly to chill. Garnish with an orange twist.

2. Koskue Gin & Juice

This beautifully simple cocktail is a treat when enjoyed ice cold, but also works well as a hot drink to warm up during the cold winter months.

Ingredients:

• 4 cl Kyrö Koskue
• 8 cl cloudy apple juice
• apple slice
• fresh vanilla

Directions:

Build in a glass filled with ice. Garnish with an apple slice and fresh vanilla pod.

3. Oranges and Black Pepper

Another Koskue gin and tonic cocktail is the version where you can garnish Koskue dark gin and tonic with oranges and black pepper. Those are both ingredients used for making Koskue barrel aged dark gin.