Our story

Born in 1927 in Mytilini and having origins from Asia Minor, Ioannis A. Linos was a famous distiller who had strived for tradition through the years aiming first and foremost at high quality. This quality stands for his family traditions, his passion and …a scent of the Aegean Sea. He worked from a young age in various distilleries of his hometown and discovered the secrets of ouzo, liqueur and cognac production.

The experience, passion and love that Ioannis Linos had for ouzo production guided him in cooperation with Orestis Papastavrou to set up his own business in 1958, entitled “Mellow Ouzo Kefi” in Epano Skala, Mytilini. During the 1960’s he managed to make “Ouzo Kefi” one of the top distillation companies on Lesvos Island.

In 1981, his first son Apostolos Linos joined the family business, having learnt all the production secrets from a young age. In 2010, with great respect in tradition, quality and the history of “Ouzo Kefi” he modified his father’s recipe and produced the first SUGARFREE ouzo. In addition, he developed the family’s traditional recipes to produce homemade cherry liqueur, cognac and other spirits.

Nowadays, the third generation of the Linos Family faithfully follows the recipe and the secrets by Apostolos Linos and they are dedicated to invest with a great vision in the production of fine ouzo from Mytilini, called “Ouzo Linou”.

Starting from the traditional recipe by Ioannis Linos and flavoured with natural aromas from Lesvos, the Linos Family runs a contemporary and responsible distillery which distills their expertise and family secrets into their traditionally produced alcoholic drinks, driven by true passion and rich experience.

On Lesvos, younger generations are blessed to receive valuable experience from the eldest in order to faithfully follow the tradition. This same tradition makes ouzo from Mytilini famous all over Greece and abroad.

The Linos Family are determined to faithfully follow this tradition and this is why “Ouzo Linou” is a distillation of expertise and family experience of 60 years in the production of alcoholic drinks.

Ouzo Linou nowadays

• Is produced in a traditional alembic using Greek alcohol in a 12-hour period.

• Is flavoured with anise and other natural herbs from Lesvos, which add a fine taste to the final product.

• Is left 30-40 days to age before bottling to attribute to a fuller taste.

• Is bottled in a contemporary establishment through a high quality process.

• Is widely available in two sugarfree products:
Ouzo Linou 40% vol. (blue label) and Ouzo Linou 42% vol. 100% distilled (red label).