wedding ginspiration; kyrö napue
You may have seen some recent activity about our brand new pop-up lounges (if not, click here). We are super excited about them. The furniture and decor are all fabulous and we can’t wait to see the lounges in full swing (hopefully at every summer wedding next year… 2018 couples…?). But it’s not just about the aesthetics (although they are great), it’s also about the drink.
To ensure we’ve selected the best gins, champagnes, and whiskeys for the lounges we (obviously) need to try them first…
kyrö napue
For this ginspiration blog post we’re focusing on the rye gin ‘Napue’ from the Kyrö distillery in Finland.
Napue gin was voted as “The World’s Best Gin for Gin & Tonic” by the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in 2015 and in 2016 Napue won the gold medal in the San Francisco World Spirit Competition premium gin-series.
(You can find out more about the distillery and the gin itself of the distillery website.)
So those are a few facts, and you can find out loads more on their website. But the important stuff is what we thought when we tried the gin. It can have more awards than La La Land had Oscar nominations, but if the consumer doesn’t like it then what’s the point?
Luckily for Napue gin, we loved it. I (Ever After’s Bethany) and my right-hand-man (and gin lover) Euan had a tasting session and we came up with some feedback about the gin.
tasting notes
Euan firstly tried the gin straight he could taste a good blend of pine needles and juniper berries with and warm & spicy edge which was sharp and punchy. Strong but enjoyable.
We then made the gin with tonic, one glass with lime and one with cucumber to see what a difference the garnishes made.
With the tonic, Euan felt it was a very clean and smooth gin, and I came to the same conclusion. We both tried the gin with lime and then with cucumber and it was definitely better with the cucumber. The aftertaste was complimented by the cucumber, and the fresh/clean taste of the gin didn’t work so well with the lime. Euan, however, concluded that his preference of garnish for this particular gin would be a sprig of rosemary.
We asked ourselves the question ‘would we order it in a restaurant?’. Euan figured the napue gin ranked higher than a lot of standard gins in his opinion, and he would definitely consider choosing it at a restaurant. I would absolutely choose it in a restaurant, however I would specifically request it to be served with cucumber as I didn’t enjoy it with the lime.
Discussion of what we pictured whilst drinking the gin was an important part of the tasting notes too. Napue gin had me picturing a mountain-top scene amongst the snow and pine trees. Whilst Euan thought of a wet/dewey winter’s morning looking over a woodland valley.
branding
Another comment I had (although not relevant to the taste, but still part of the ginspiration) was the look of the bottle and the label. I thought it was bold, simplistic, and eye-catching, and (somehow) reflected the taste of the gin through it’s appearance. I suppose it’s not something I can quite put my finger on, by nevertheless it’d certainly stand out on a shelf which (let’s face it) is half the battle!
gin and champagne lounge
So there’s some tasting notes for the kyrö napue gin. I bet you’re tempted to try some yourself… am I right?
Why does gin tasting have anything to do with weddings? Because of the Gin & Champagne lounge, exclusively at Ever After (of course).
