The year was 1860, when Efstathios J. Barbayannis arrived at the picturesque port of Plomari, on the rich, fertile and sunny island of Lesvos, Greece.
The island's running waters gave life to an excellent variety of aniseed and to hundreds of rare, sweet-smelling herbs.
Efstathios Barbayannis brought his experience and knowledge of the distillation process with him from the Russian city of Odessa and started his own distillery which produced first-rate quality Greek ouzo.
Today, in the settlement of Plomari, Lesvos, in the ultra-modern, privately-owned Barbayannis ouzo production facilities, technology is combined with history and tradition.