The Metaxa brand was established in 1888 by Spyros Metaxa. The brandies are made by blending grape spirit with plump grapes from Attica.
On my first visit to Greece I tasted 3, 5 and 7 star and quickly became a lover of 5 star. Around 3 years ago the taste changed. It was so bad I poured the last half down the sink, as it even tasted bad with mixers. A friend brought me a 1L bottle back from holiday and it also was bad. Instead of pouring this also down the sink I contacted Metaxa to ask what they had done with the 5 star formulation and posted the bottle to them. Their reply, "Analysis shows no 'significant' change" and sent me a bottle of their new 12 star in exchange. As they amazingly detected no 'significant' difference I offered my services as research chemist free of charge to show them the reason for the taste change. They refused, but when the 12 star arrived the reason became obvious. The good news: 12 star tastes remarkably like the old 5 star. The bad news: it's over £10 dearer per bottle. With web reports on Metaxa flavour change on also the 7 star product, it appears Metaxa has changed their product range without informing the public. The original flavour we're accustomed to is very much more expensive, and, I'm afraid to say, very overpriced when compared with good Cognacs and Armagnacs with which it doesn't compare anyway.
I've tried most Metaxa's and this is my favourite, the smoothest of the bunch and the hardest to find in the UK!
my flavourite
