On the palate, it’s very smooth and honey sweet, with notes of dark dried fruit, chocolate, and dried and candied orange zest. It’s more peppery and exhibits a substantial palate weight and a viscous, oily character. Napacabs has the special reserve Metaxa brandy which is a 30 year old blend for a reasonable price. The Seven Star expression is very similar to the Five Star. It’s more concentrated and a bit less floral on the nose. The rose petal notes, in particular, are less distinct. Overall, it’s more brandy-like than its younger sibling.

On the nose, it’s very floral, with distinctive notes of rose petals, lemon blossom, and jasmine. There are additional notes of candied orange, assorted wood spices, and vanilla. Metaxa is a Greek brandy that has been around for over a century (founded in 1888, to be precise). It's made from a blend of different wines, and it has a distinctively smooth and sweet taste. Metaxa is generally held to be fruity, sweet (with honey notes) and floral.In addition to her role as a DelightedCooking editor, Niki enjoys educating herself about interesting Hi and WELCOME to Cook Like a Greek! We’re Lizz and Stephanie, a mother-daughter team living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Living under the same roof again, after many years apart, we noticed how much we enjoyed being in the kitchen and cooking together. It has brought us even closer, and we saw it as an opportunity to create and share traditional Greek family recipes with our family and friends. Metaxa 12-Star is the most mature of the regular range of Metaxa Greek spirits, and there’s a push on to familiarize American palates with this classic Greek drink, or the Original Greek Spirit. I was drinking Metaxa years before I started writing about drink, and never thought I’d find myself reviewing it. So I have a predisposition to like the drink, but I can also now appreciate it more because I can put it into context, with cognacs and brandies and whiskies. To me it tastes like a very fine brandy, but a little more floral. It’s safe to say that if you’ve never tried Metaxa, this new 12-Star will be the perfect introduction. It really is in a class of its own. More Information I never cared much for the taste of it myself so I've come up with my own Metaxa drink by adding sugar syrup, water and lemon in a tall glass of ice with mint leaves. It's very cool and refreshing.

There’s a hint of violets in there too, probably a spin-off from the roses. Perhaps figs as well, another sweetness, and a hint of dark coffee richness. It’s certainly an interesting aroma and not quite like anything else while resembling both brandy and whisky. In addition, there are also special bottlings of Angel’s Treasure, Single Cask and Amen, although these are not available in the US and are very difficult to find even in Europe. Although Metaxa was originally compared to a Cognac and subsequently to a brandy, it is actually not classified as either of these spirits. Brandy, by definition, does not include wine. Metaxa has the presence of very fine muscat wines from Samos, an island in the north east Aegean, and Mediterranean botanicals. As such, Metaxa is a spirit in a category of its own. The third ingredient used in crafting Metaxa is an herbal extract. The complete list of elements in the extract is known to only a handful of people. The rose petals are gathered from bushes grown at an altitude of around 2,500 feet. They are macerated in a solution of water and alcohol for up to one year. All the ingredients in the herbal elixir are macerated separately and then combined. The mixture is unaged. A small quantity of the herbal elixir is blended with the aged mix of spirit and wine.On the nose, it has more spice, particularly cinnamon, and less stone fruit. There are more pronounced dark, dried fruit notes of raisin, fig, and prune; dark chocolate, and the classic rancio aromas of cigar box and new leather.

The Metaxa 12 Star is richer on the palate and offers more layered complexity. The Muscat wine that goes into the blend is more concentrated and oxidized and is made with grapes grown at higher altitudes. The final blend is then aged for at least two years, although Metaxa has blends that have been aged for as long as 30-40 years. The maturation occurs in large, 3,500-liter butts of neutral wood. Some of the butts used by Metaxa are more than a century old. The spirit is casked at an ABV of 40% and 46%. The original first two butts are still in use at the distillery, although they have been repaired many times.Metaxa is a stylish product. It comes in a solid dark blue box and the bottle inside is equally handsome, with a matching blue top and gold lettering for the label. With the deep brown spirit inside, it certainly looks classy and very tempting. Add granulated sugar to a small plate. Dip the rim of your glass into some lemon juice and then dip glass into the sugar.

Metaxa 12 Stars is a smooth, premium Greek brandy that is perfect for sipping on its own or enjoying with friends. It has a rich, complex flavour that makes it perfect for after-dinner drinks or enjoyed neat.It was developed by Metaxa Master Costas Raptis in 1992 and was based on specific selections of butts that showed exceptional flavor and complexity. This is a picture of grapes of the variety muscat. They are used to produce the famous sweet Vin ... [+] Doux wine on the island of Samos. getty Metaxa sources its wine from vineyards in the center of the 11.3-mile-wide island. The vineyards are typically located on mountainous ledges that receive good sun and wind exposure. We referenced bon appetit to learn how to make a lemon peel garnish here. WHAT TYPE OF METAXA SHOULD I USE? On the nose it’s like a brandy, but a brandy with a subtle difference. There’s a floral sweetness in there but it’s a really rich floral sweetness, not the subtler notes you might get with a Scotch or a brandy. That’s because Metaxa also has botanicals in it, including rose petals.