EL MASSAYA

El Massaya arak is the last representative of traditional arak, a spirit that was formerly consumed by nobles. The Ghosn family were producing artisanal arak at Tanaïl, a property on the Bekaa plain, from a local white grape variety (Obeidi) until the outbreak of war in the 1970s. In 1995, Sami and Ramzi Ghosn returned to the country where vines originated, and began producing arak again. Distilled three times in a Moor’s head still, with no spiral, and heated with coals from vine cuttings, all of the arak’s elegant, delicate aromas are perfectly preserved. It is then aged for eight months in terracotta amphoras.