Meet the Kyrö people

Over the years Kyrö has grown to a distillery that is known worldwide. Five guys with a dream turned into a supersized family. Get to know the Kyrö people.

Marketing & Sales

Jouni Ritola

Our meditating CEO prefers the office to remote work and still remembers small talk from the year he spent in Chicago spreading rye.

jouni@kyrodistillery.com

Reija Penttinen

Marketing and managing the visitor centre, and when she’s not doing that she just keeps dancing. Reija loves to travel and loves her kiddo; the curious and open-minded little human being we could all learn from.

reija@kyrodistillery.com

Matti Kovanen

Matti is a man of many talents. He has been spotted playing the piano, doing photography with a drone and knowing surprisingly much about skiis. Matti is our brand police and the go to- visual person.

Jonna Kytömäki

Our marketing warehouse and customer service coordinator claims not to be a morning person but works like one. Uses every possible hour dreaming about a cottage by the ocean.

Jenna Toivonen

Lives in a baby bubble for now.

German Team

Liv Fleischhacker

This Berlin superstar likes salt and Italy: together and separate. The rest she'll tell you over a negroni. On her days off, she gets really into different bottled waters and new marketing ideas.

Max Sabato

Spreads the rye in Germany and drives a Volvo. Also the one we like to send to the kitchen and see magic happen.

max@kyrodistillery.com

UK Team

Miika Lipiäinen

Moved to the UK to talk about Arsenal and rye. What will happen with the Diet Coke addiction remains to be seen.

miika@kyrodistillery.com

Sophie Bannatyne

If it was up to her she would spend eternity travelling around all corners of the world. When not dreaming of that, she works with all things UK Brand Management, everything from changing buttons on a page to working on marketing activities and events.

sophie@kyrodistillery.com

Dylan Bell

Despite the accent he's actually from Vancouver, hence the love for ice skating and pizza eating. UK Partner Manager enjoyes a tasty Sazerac and can't believe anyone who hasn't seen the Toxicity music video.

dylan@kyrodistillery.com

Visitor center

Miko Heinilä

Watches over the premises and tells never-ending stories about (Iso)Kyrö history to everyone who wanders his way.

miko@kyrodistillery.com

Tony Sivula

Sheep farmer and visitor center manager who keeps leaving his keys in places he forgets about. Besides cocktails, specialises in all things made out of sourdough.

tonto@kyrodistillery.com

+358503547604

Joni Pukkinen

Grandma's pancakes with real butter and sugar and the joy of finding wild strawberries started the story. Our head chef makes taste journeys at Kyrö unforgettable.

joni@kyrodistillery.com

Saija Hautala

As a kid she was always on the baseball field. Now she's in the kitchen. When she's not cooking, she keeps herself busy travelling through Google Maps.

Eveliina Hyppönen

This master chef remembers the trips she made as a kid to the beach and the sandwiches they ate after swimming. She still loves food but rather than bread she now enjoyes a tasty piece of entrecôte.

Meeri Luhtala

The never-ending smile left her hometown of Isokyrö only to return with more stories to tell and more cocktails to prepare. Takes good care of the barrel owners.

Lyydianna Hangassalo

When she's not hosting distillery tours, she enjoys Hogwarts spiced with magical tattoo ideas and ice cream bowls.

Susanne Koivisto

Tour host who got very excited about Disney+ coming to Finland. Loves sushi, iced coffee and her cat.

Kristiina Perkiö

She believes fighting makes sense when you do it in Spanish, and mornings are worth it when you can sleep. Maybe that's why she works the nights behind the bar.

Katariina Kallio

Every tour she hosts, the safety is guaranteed. Mainly because she's a paramedic.

Eeva Iivari

From running barefoot in Kilimanjaro to running tours around a rye distillery in Isokyrö. The only one of us who can tell the story of Kyrö in Estonian.

Whisky team

Kalle Valkonen

Before becoming the head distiller for a Finnish whisky distillery, this (crazy) scientist was developing biofuels and brewing beer.

kalle@kyrodistillery.com

Mari Saarenpää

Prefers whisky smoky and knows how to replace problems with solutions. Leads the whisky team with loads of love.

mari@kyrodistillery.com

Jonas Backlund

Besides whisky distilling and creating new drinks, masters Swedish dialect closest to ancient language and surely after meeting him, you'll know where he's from.

Timo Mäkelä

Surprisingly talkative introvert who says he can distill whisky and play bass at the same time, but no one has seen that happen yet.

Jussi-Pekka Litmanen

This whisky distiller spends his summers on a cottage and winters with his cat. Dearest memories include time spent with grandma doing lottery and eating pancakes, all in one night.

ABW (all but whisky) team

Matti Leppälehto

Gin blender who likes sauna, loves electronic music and laughs at really bad jokes. Better known as “the sauce guy”.

Sanni Aittanen

Former aircraft mechanic is a talent on the baseball field, as well as in gin distilling.

Ásgeir Bergmann Pétrusson

His favourite city is Madrid due to good weather, great wines and amazing food. Yet he moved to Isokyrö. Contract says Geiri does research and development. We think he’s also really good at making us all happy.

Bottling, Logistics & Production

Jani Kujala

In this case it takes one to tango and Jani is the one singing it while managing the Kyrö production.

Outi Heinäluoma

Kyrö bottles would get lost in translation without our head of logistics team – the one with the Fernet-Branca coin.

Kaisa Havunen

Dreams about having another Hanami picnic in Tokyo one day. In charge of sending the bottles out to the world. Fan of whisky, drinks it neat.

Ann-Marie Kallio

Gardening enthusiast who keeps packing materials strictly in order and spices Isokyrö with her Swedish flavour.

Elisabeth Killinen

As a kid, this master of logistics and bottling used to drive around in a truck with her dad listening to Swedish hits. Nowadays loves to wake up early and admits her favourite drink is milk.

Finance & people

Linda Hasi

Financial director who comes down the hills freeriding. Loves mushrooming and art galleries.

Jenni Soini

Remembers more than is humanly possible even for a finance manager. Spends most of her free time renovating a 100-year-old house by the Kyrö river.