In 1860, Efstathios J. Barbayannis arrived in the picturesque village of Plomari on the fertile island of Lesvos, the place of running waters offering life to an endless variety of star anise and over two hundreds of rare fragrant herbs and plants. On this same land, the gifted businessman first started distilling and producing prime quality ouzo. Currently, technology coexists with history and tradition in perfect harmony at the modern privately-owned Barbayannis Liquor Distilleries at Plomari of Lesvos.

Faithfully keeping a 153-year old tradition, Barbayannis family still follows the footsteps of Efstathios Barbayannis. With love and care, family members carefully select natural ingredients and monitor the ouzo distillation procedure, carried out in the old traditional method.

The values of passionately pursuing perfection, servicing premium taste and following traditional distillation techniques for over 5 generations, led the Ouzo Barbayannis’s brand to be strongly connected with finest Greek ouzo.

Oyzo Barbayannis owes its success to the secret family recipe, which has been the foundation of quality and taste of the brand for over five generations.

The results of this traditional distillation method is a 100% extract offering Ouzo Barbayannis its unique flavor (Greek legislation requires a minimum of 20% extract). Ouzo Barbayannis ranks in the superior category of world liquors thanks to its 100% extract.

The method of 100% distillation is still followed today in the production of 4 different type of Ouzo Barbayannis savoured by thousands of ouzo lovers in Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand.

Currently, the 153-year old native Greek family business Barbayannis Liquor Distilleries Ltd. at Plomari on the island of Lesvos carries on the tradition of extra fine ouzo, certified by EUROCERT with ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 22000:2005 for liquor safety and by the University of the Aegean NAIAS system on responsible enterprises, gazing at the future with optimism and faithfully following the path opened by previous generations 153 years ago.

Recently, the company’s management implemented new investing plans on further expanding ouzo production lines, updating the quality control laboratory, developing and systematically employing the company’s privately-owned star anise plantations to the greatest possible advantage and also expanding the company’s sales network in Greece and abroad. The short term future management planning focuses on further improving the services rendered to Museum guests and to the visitors of Ouzo Barbayannis distilleries with modern audiovisual media.