Metaxa launches luxury line extension

Greek spirit Metaxa is celebrating its 120th birthday with a limited edition called Aen. Housed in a crystal decanter, the new product is made from 20 to 80 year-old blends and comes with a £700 price tag.

1888 decanters of Aen Metaxa will be available worldwide, with 25 destined for the UK. The decanters are filled from Cask No 1 in the Metaxa cellars. Also known as the Spyros cask after the founder Spyros Metaxa, the barrel contains the oldest blends in the cellar, which are up to 80 years old.

 

Aen is a Greek word meaning eternal or forever. It is also an anagram of the Greek for one, a reference to Cask No 1.

Metaxa is distilled from wine made from three Greek grape varieties, Savatino, Sultanina and Black Corinth. The wine is distilled twice and then matured for between three and thirty years in French Limousin oak casks.

 

The aged spirit is then blended with Muscat wines from the Aegean islands of Samos, Limnos and an area in Patras. After this it is blended again with secret botanicals and rose petals.

"Aen Metaxa is the supreme expression of all that is different and desirable about the Metaxa brand," commented Katie Warren, Metaxa marketing manager in the UK.

 

Patrick Schmitt 15/10/08