Danni Barry: Ireland's first female Chef of The Year
By Darinee Durai
In 2012, five young men decided to build an all-rye distillery in Isokyrö, Finland. Made from malted rye, the whisky is double distilled and aged in white oak casks in what used to be the cheese-aging room of a dairy. Botanicals such as meadow sweet, seabuckthorn, birch leaves and wild cranberry are foraged locally for Napue gin, which was named The World’s Best Gin & Tonic at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in 2015. The scent of Finnish meadows gives way to herbal and citrusy flavours, and a cumin-like finish. Koshue gin, matured in small oak barrels for six to twelve weeks, has the scent of summer flowers and honey over a concentration of orange peels, vanilla, and black pepper. Jurri rye, with hints of licorice root and aniseed opening into a palate of traditional spiced Finnish rye bread, works perfectly as the base for craft cocktails. In the restaurant and bar located on the same premises, menu items such as braised lamb with rye, salmon with cranberries and rosemary, and seabuckthorn with sour milk and roasted white chocolate have been crafted with the gin in centerstage.
