Far from everyday life, in the rugged White Mountains of Crete, Thodoris Viglis sets up his colorful beehives after spending weeks scouting for the perfect spot. During the next month, the colony will collect the nectar of wild thyme flowers. It will work tirelessly to produce a honey of exceptional quality: with a spicy-pungent flavor, amber-colored Meli Viglis Thyme is both intensely sweet and robust.

After the harvest is complete, Thodoris moves his hives to the vivid pinewoods of Sfakia for a second round. His meticulously self-bred queens oversee the production of a natural blend of thyme and pine honey that will apply for the recognition of PDO of Crete this year: the Meli(honey) Viglis Thyme and Pine. It has a perfectly balanced aroma and great nutritional value, untainted by scourges of modernity like traffic or pesticides.

The end of August harvest results in a world-unique brand of honey deferring to a centuries-old tradition in agreement with nature. The whole process takes up to two weeks and culminates in the on-site slinging of the honey, when Thodoris works for 48 hours non-stop. After the cans are sent downhill by pulley, his trusty mules transport the end result to Agia Roumeli in a final 3-hour hike. Meli Vigli Samaria owes its unique flavor to Samaria’s distinct variety of herbs such as salvia, satureja thymbra, origanum majorana, thyme, and sideritis syriaca which is only found in Crete, and is better known as the Cretan Mountain tea.