Pisco is the fabulous South American brandy that is the base for many sexy cocktails and lively punches. The bettter quality Piscos are also great straight on the rocks.
It is considered by some to be the national drink of Peru and Chile, its most famous rendition is a classic cocktail called a Pisco Sour.
Bartenders have been whipping up other fascinating concoctions with this line of booze. We decided to learn more about this potent brandy and did a small tasting of three types of Pisco.
We also mixed up some fine cocktails which lead to a fun filled evening.
We tasted three mid-range Piscos selling for between $15 and $23. Higher end Pisco goes for as much as $50.
Our favorite was a BarSol Pisco Acholado made at Bodega San Isidroin Peru, one of the oldest pisco producers in the world.
You should know that there are four types of Pisco.
•Pure Pisco that is made with just one variety of grape, usually the black Quebranta grapes.
•Acholado made of a variety of grapes “musts,” the term for the solids and liquids created just after grapes are pressed.
•Aromatic piscos come from aromatic grapes, usually Muscat.
•Green Must varieties are made by using the must of partially-fermented grapes.
This one is an Achado made of Quebranta, Italia, and Torontel grapes. It has a very delicate flowery and open aroma with kind of a violet and honeysuckle essence. It hasan elegant, smooth finish that lingered on the palate. It was very nice on the rocks or ice cold out of the freezer in a shot glass.
We made a fabulous cocktail called the "Red Queen" by the famous chef David Burke.
Red Queen Pisco Cocktail Recipe
» .5 oz Fresh lime juice
» 1 oz Simple syrup
» 1 oz Malbec wine
» Garnish: Lime wedge
» Glass: Rocks
Shake the Pisco, lime juice and simple syrup vigorously in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain the mixture into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Finish with a float of Malbec wine. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Our second favorite Pisco was a "Pure" called Queirolo by Vinas Santiago, from the Lagrima Vineyard in the Canete Valley outside of Lima. It is made of 100% Quebranta grapes.
In this valley the river waters and the sunny weather are perfect for the cultivation of vineyards. Santiago Queirolo has been made for three generations.
It is a firm but well balanced Pisco, it has a banana and black raisin flavor. It too is very smooth.
Pisco was named after the conical pottery called pisqu (translates to little bird) used to age the juice by Spanish settlers in the sixteenth century. They made Pisco to replace Orujo which was imported from Spain, Pisco is also the name of one of the sites where it was produced, Pisco, in the Viceroyalty of Peru.
With this Pisco I made a ginger lime cocktail with frest mint. Kind of a ginger mojito. Pisco can be used in place of rum or tequilla in most cocktail recipes with those spirits.
I called it "After the Beach" as it is perfect for sipping after a nice day in the sun like today:
Here is the recipe:
In a cocktail shaker muddle 4 leafy sprigs of fresh mint and two lime slices , Add 1/2 oz fresh lime juice, 1 oz ginger simple syrup, 1 1/2 oz Pisco, splash of orange liqueur, shake well with crushed ice. Pour in to a rocks glass, top with Luxardo maraschino liqueur and garnish with a fresh cherry.
Our last tasting was a deep oak aged Pisco called Alto De Carmen from Chile. It is an aromaticPisco made of 100% Muscat grapes, distilled with pure water from the Andes mountains and aged six to eight months in American oak casks.
This Pisco has a deeper flavor and is like dark rum or tequilla versus white.
I like to drink this Pisco very cold out of the freezer with a squeeze of lemon and some raw sugar.
Pascual Ibañez, a Spanish sommeliersettled in Chile, makes some good suggestions for those tasting PISCO for the first time: “I would present it on its own and as an after dinner drink. I would choose a reserve PISCO served in a glass”. Ibañez, who praises its “personality” as liquor, believes that PISCO is Chile’s most important national drink.
