Beylerbeyi Göbek

Beylerbeyi Göbek is the core bottling of the Turkish raki house Beylerbeyi, bottled at 45% in a 35cl bottle. The name Göbek refers to the heart cut of the distillation, the purest, most balanced part of the distillate, here taken from carefully distilled grape spirit refined with selected aniseed. The bottling dispenses with additives and leans on that clean heart cut for its character. Raki is an anise spirit, not a sweet liqueur, and turns milky when water is added, the cloud the Turks call lion's milk.

The nose is fine, elegant aniseed, clean and balanced, the palate clearly structured, soft and harmonious with a precise aniseed note and high purity, the finish long, dry and very balanced. Its traditional serve is with cold water, which brings up the milky cloudiness, or chilled neat or over ice. At the table it is a classic meze companion, sitting alongside grilled fish, feta, olives and Mediterranean starters. Serve it well chilled and let the table linger over it.