Ouzo 12 was first produced in 1880 by the Kaloyannis brothers in Constantinople, and then later moved to the Athenian port of Piraeus in 1919. The name Ouzo 12 came from its production from barrel number 12. Its original recipe comes from carefully selected herbs and spices - aniseed, star anise, fennel, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon and cardamon. These are distilled in traditional copper pot stills and the resulting liquid is placed in barrels to marry the complex flavors until they attain the full, distinctive taste for which Ouzo 12 is famous.