This is a beautiful gin, evocative of the forest, and delightful in winter, but honestly lovely at any time of year.

This ‘Nordic Forest Gin’ is manufactured in the central town of Kuopio, right at the heart of Finnish lake country, a beautiful part of the world.

It was a gift from Ninatans who kindly brought it back from her latest trip home. I am very grateful. Kiitos!

The first thing you notice about the gin is the pretty branding. It’s minimal with the lightest touches of whimsy and kawaii.

I love the innocent sketches of the trees and herbal botanicals.

The colours and design are only emboldened once you have stored the bottle in the freezer. The cork, like some of the best things in Finland, is wooden.

It makes a beautiful and subtle martini with gorgeous botanicals. Err towards the dry side so you can really savour the flavours.

In addition to well-balanced botanicals of piney juniper, citrus and forest herbs, the gin is also made with absolutely beautiful, soft Finnish water. It’s smooth and crystal clear on the underlying palette.

If you’re making a martini use a very small amount of a good quality vermouth like Noilly Prat so you don’t overcrowd the flavour profile.

You can garnish with lemon peel or olive but I didn’t actually use either because I wanted to taste the subtle botanicals. I was happy with my choice and would recommend leaving out a garnish at least for your first try.

It’s also smooth which means it can stand nicely on its own and even works well as a Churchill Martini – a rare treat.

We served it with skagen, the Finnish equivalent of Danish smørrebrød or open sandwiches at Christmas time.

It was a very nice combination.

We also used it in gin and tonics, using a Christmas garnish: fill the glasses with a little water, add in a sprig of rosemary and stand it upright so it resembles a Christmas tree, add some berries such as cranberry, then freeze.

When you pour the gin and tonic the glass is nicely cold and the garnish is very festive.

The rosemary complimented the herbal notes of the gin and we all had a pleasant drink. This would be a very nice way to finish off a winter sauna session.

In the form of a gin and tonic it’s a slightly sweet drink, with the herbal undertones shining through. It’s very refreshing and doesn’t even need a garnish truth be told, but they were very pretty and evocative of the north nonetheless.

All in all, this is a beautiful gin, inside and out. Yet another strong contender from Finland. Kippis!