Apostalagma Ouzo Review

Travel Distilled reviews Apostalagma Ouzo from the Verino Distillery in Argos, Greece, which is an outstanding ouzo at a punchy 59% ABV.

The anise-based spirit ouzo stands alongside Metaxa and retsina as being one of the archetypal Greek drinks, and this Apostalagma Ouzo at 59% ABV is a knock-out.

I’ve never counted but I must have been to Greece a few hundred times. I’ve written several guidebooks to Greece, dozens of newspaper, magazine and website pieces, and publish a website about Greece: Greece Travel Secrets. On every visit I’ve had ouzo, as it’s the perfect drink to sip as a sundowner at the end of the day, while deciding where to go for dinner.

What is Ouzo?

Ouzo is an aniseed-based aperitif that’s made all over Greece, tasting a little like French pastis or the Middle-Eastern spirit arak. Like a few other Greek spirits, ouzo is made from what’s left of the grapes from wine-making once all the juice has been squeezed out of them. This is called pomace.

The pomace is distilled with aniseed to produce ouzo, though other things can be added. In a way it’s a little like making gin, but instead of juniper you use aniseed as the base flavour. In fact many of the botanicals that go into gin are also used by ouzo distilleries, such as cloves, fennel and cardamom. Some distillers also use mastic resin from the island of Chios, which adds some delicate pine flavors and aromas.

Verino Distillery

Every ouzo distillery naturally has its own secret recipe, and that includes the Verino Distillery, which makes this super-strength Apostalagma Ouzo. They also make another Greek spirit, tsipouro, and have been barrel-ageing tsipouros so are obviously a distillery to watch.

The distillery was founded in 1978 in Argos on the Greek Peloponnese by Babis Spiliopoulos and is still run by him with his son Thanos. Argos is a few miles south of the ancient tombs at Mycenae, and a few miles north of the beautiful coastal town of Nafplion. A fun fact if you’re in the UK: the Argos retail chain gets its name from this town, as the founder was staying there when he thought it would be a good name for his new business.

Apostalagma Ouzo Review

If you go to Greece regularly then you probably assume – as I did till a few years ago – that all ouzos taste the same. You sit down at a bar or in a cafe, you ask for an ouzo, and you drink whatever they bring you. It’s not like vodka, where you might specify a Grey Goose if you want something better than the house vodka.

One sip of this Apostalagma Ouzo, though, and you’ll know right away that not all ouzos taste the same. To start with the bottle – it’s nothing flashy but is a long way from the typical ouzo bottle with their bright labels. It’s much more restrained, classier, and in the kind of bottle you’d expect to find a serious spirit in.

On the nose it’s very intense, thanks to the high alcohol content, and the anise aroma really hits you. If it’s something you like, as I do, you’re already thinking ‘wow’. But where a bog-standard ouzo will smell of aniseed and nothing else, this is much more complex. There’s a lemony freshness to it, too. What struck me most, though, was a briny smell, which I thought very odd. But no, it immediately made me think strongly of fresh shrimp on a fishmonger’s counter, or being sold by a fisherman down at the harbour still having the smell and glisten of the sea on them. With that lemon taste as well, this is definitely going to go down well with seafood, especially the delicious dish that I’ve occasionally come across: shrimp cooked in ouzo.

Shrimps cooked in ouzo — Shrimps Cooked in Ouzo

Drinking Ouzo

You can drink ouzo neat, on the rocks, or with water, adding as much water as you like to get the taste right for you. One of the distinctive things about ouzo is that it turns milky when you add water. I did look up the scientific explanation for this but couldn’t begin to describe it.

Adding too much water to this Apostalagma Ouzo would be a sacrilege, although it’s going to be a stunning ingredient in cocktails, its strength really giving them a powerful punch. I decided to start by sipping the ouzo neat.

If the nose was intense, the taste was fantastic. If you like the taste of ouzo, this one really coats your mouth with aniseed, and with a touch of fennel, though I don’t know if that’s in the recipe. There was still that lemon freshness, and maybe a hint of mint. The finish is smooth but the aniseed taste goes all the way down your throat. It’s like drowning in ouzo, which for me was heaven in a glass.

The next night I tried it with just one ice-cube, which was about as much water as I was prepared to add. As the ice slowly melts and starts to dilute the ouzo, the flavours do get more mellow, but it’s still much more concentrated than any regular-strength ouzo. This Apostalagma Ouzo has definitely spoiled me for other ouzos. Next time I’m in Greece, I can see me becoming an ouzo snob.