Metaxa
Greece · Brandy
Greece’s flagship aged spirit, and strictly not a brandy at all — created in 1888 by Spyros Metaxas as a blend of oak-matured wine distillate with aged Muscat wine and a botanical infusion including rose petals, a composition that puts it in a legal category of its own. Graded by stars — 5, 7 and 12 — then Private Reserve and the premium AEN and Grande Fine bottlings; the 12 Star is where it becomes genuinely interesting.