Capturing the Spirit of Imatra

Words from the founders
The journey of Imatra Spirits started from the love of great food, great drinks and even better company. In 2024, we had a conversation over dinner as to how come Imatra, a beautiful city with rich history does not have its own spirit brand. Ironically the tagline for the city and its festivities used to be “the famous Imatra spirit”. We spoke about and ended the conversation with sheer determination to not limit this opportunity to just idea level. 

We’ve been blessed to have garnered exposure and experience from tasting and experiencing different spirits brands from Finland and beyond, with even an opportunity to work with some of the most prestigious wine and spirits brands in the world. Thus we spent the first year crafting, testing and perfecting what we thought would be a perfect gin. Complex, smooth, versatile and multi-layered. While gin as a spirit is as old as alchemy and spirits as a product, the idea of gin is still firmly rooted as a stiff and often overwhelming. While many brands have put in enormous effort to change the perspective and introduce versatile range of gins, the dated perspective is still very much present. This is what we wanted to change.

Creating a great gin is just one part of the story, but what about the story itself? The entire journey was inspired by our love for our home town of Imatra. The oldest travel destination in Finland, and an amazing city full of cultural history, nature and more. The product was created to capture the energy, and drive and beauty of the city. So everything from the brand, to the taste, to the story needed to express the national wonder that is Imatra.

One year and after months of tweaking, we had a product we collectively felt to be worthy of the Imatra Dry Gin label each bottle carries. Our friendships and partnership with Nordic Premium Beverages enabled us to create a product that defies the traditional ideals and expectations of what makes a great gin. Spirit of the Cascade Imatra Dry Gin is an experience, a journey of tasting notes and a versatile mixing opportunity that works with a range of cocktails. Trust us, we tested dozens of cocktails to test our hypothesis.
 The journey would not have been possible without the support of our family and friends. It is truly heartwarming to receive such support from not only the close circle but the good folks of Imatra and people around the world. 
This is just the first step on an amazing journey of Imatra Spirits.

More will follow, and we’re excited to bring the product to the world.

Regards,
Mikko Rasimus, Co-founder & Master Distiller
Dr. Taavi Kuisma, Co-founder & Brand Ambassador

Background – The executive summary

The founders have worked for years to manifest what is now Imatra Spirits company. What started as a concept, an idea and inspiration manifested as Imatra Spirits company, with a vision of becoming a globally recognized purveyor or artisanal gin from Imatra, Finland. The recipe for the company’s first product, Spirit of the Cascade Gin was carefully crafted in Imatra, the city which served as an inspiration for the product. The historical city has always been full of energy, powered by the Imatrankoski cascade. We started with the simple concept of bottling the “Famous Imatra Spirit”. We studied the different gin profiles from around the world for years, before concluding on a recipe that matched this energy. 

Nature and the natural beauty of Imatra was a major inspiration behind the Imatra Spirits. We respect the land and what it offers, whether it’s the apothecary, herbs, vegetables, fruits and berries or game.


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