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that the bottles we have here contain Zivania made in more conventional stills, so as
to produce the spirit in volume. The possible exception is the last
bottle, which does not show a maker.
Starting on the last page we have Zivania from Loel, Kkoulas,
Keo and Etko. On this page we have a nice bottle from Kykkos
Monastery and finally the bottle mentioned earlier that does not
show a maker on it.
On the left we have two
Kokkini, our only examples of
Red Zivania. This is made by
adding cinnamon, common
with the 'back-yard' distillers
but relatively rare for the
commercial manufacturers. I
note that the one on the left
says 'sweet,' whereas most
Zivania is dry. These are two
more bottles from Kykkos
Monastery. I know of one
variation of the sweet bottle
and I am sure that there are
many more Zivanias out
there.
Talias & Thoukis made the
'super extra' Masticha on the right. Mastcha, otherwise known as
Mastika, is a somewhat undefined drink made in several
countries in southern eastern Europe. The common thread is that
it is flavoured with resin, similar to Retsina wine. It can be either a
sweet liqueur or a spirit, similar to Ouzo. Being from Cyprus this
one is almost certainly a spirit, although there is no percentage
alcohol visible. The spirit goes cloudy white when water or ice is
added.
On the far right is an example of a slightly better known spirit,
Raki. This one is from Loel but I am sure there are more Rakis
made, and bottled in miniature, on Cyprus.
We start the next page with Cypriot examples of much more common spirits, three gins and three
rums. The oldest of this group is also the first, Keo Dry Gin. Probably the most modern bottle is the
next one, Queen Victoria London type Dry Gin. This bottle is from Haggipavlu. Next is yet another
nice bottle from Kykkos Monastery, this time a Dutch style Genevrier gin. Keo rum, with the rip-cap,
is our second oldest bottle of the group. Ron Marinero is a pale 'Bacardi' style rum from Loel. The
final bottle in the row is Ron Pantelidi rum from Pantelides.
The next six bottles are also common spirits. The first is a brandy from Loel. I had no idea what was
in this bottle but a combination of the Greek alphabet on Wikipedia, Google Translate and cut and
paste showed that it is Cypriot Brandy (the words across the top). The large four letter diagonal word
is LOEL in Greek. Next is the only Cyprus whisky I know of, made by Kkouloas. I doubt that the
Scottish Whisky Association is too worried about the competition. We had a few vodkas in the first
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