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Styles of Pisco: A Mystery Solved

Depending on where you look online, you'll find that there are either three or four categories of Peruvian pisco.This is confusing if you want to write about it.

The Problem

Some sites say that there are four types: Puro, Aromatico, Mosto Verde, and Acholado.

Others say three: Puro (which includes the four aromatic varietals of the Aromatico category above), Mosto Verde, and Acholado.

As far as I know, the national pisco association of Peru has no official information in English. And the two very official-looking websites above have different answers.

The Evidence

But in the process of trying to figure out how many types of pisco there are I think I also figured out why there is confusion. Or rather, I asked enough people who figured it out for me. Particular thanks go to pisco historian/author Guillermo Toro-Lira who scanned in the old laws so we can compare it to the new ones.

When the pisco norm (technical standard) was released in 1989, there were actually five approved categories of pisco. Toro-Lira scanned in the norm for us, which comes from the book: "Crónicas y Relaciones que se refieren al origen y virtudes del PISCO Bebida tradicional y patrimonio del Peró", Banco Latino, Lima Perú, 1990.

Here are the most relevant pages (click to enlarge) especially the second one. As you can see, the five categories are puro, mosto verde, aromatico, aromatizado, and acholado.

The aromatized category allowed for distilling or infusing other fruit into pisco.

But when the norm was updated in 2006 [PDF of it is here], there aromatizado category is gone (maybe that was eliminated between 1989 and 2006; not sure) and Aromatico and Puro are merged into Puro:

5. CLASIFICACIÓN
5.1 Pisco puro: Es el Pisco obtenido exclusivamente de una sola variedad de uva pisquera.
5.2 Pisco mosto verde: Es el Pisco obtenido de la destilación de mostos frescos de uvas pisqueras con fermentación interrumpida
5.3 Pisco acholado: Es el Pisco obtenido de la mezcla de:
- Uvas Pisqueras, aromáticas y/o no aromáticas.
- Mostos de uvas pisqueras aromáticas y/o no aromáticas.
- Mostos frescos completamente fermentados (vinos frescos) de uvas aromáticas y/o no aromáticas.
- Piscos provenientes de uvas pisqueras aromáticas y/o no aromáticas.

What looks to be  fair translation of that is here.

The Answer

So, the current law as of 2006 is that there are three categories of Peruvian pisco. Seeing how the law changed, we can understand all the confusion.

http://www.elpiscoesdelperu.com/boletines/enero2008/NTP21100_Pisco.pdf

A New Book on Pisco History

You know how you read a historic cocktail book like Wondrich's Imbibe and Jared and Anistatia's Spirituous Journey and you wish you could see the source material they used to write it?

History of Pisco in San Francisco: A Scrapbook of First Hand Accounts is basically that. Historian and pisco obsessive Guillermo Toro-Lira put together this book that contains ship's logs, diaries, newspaper clippings, and other reference material that he used to write his other book Wings of Cherubs. Much of it is new and printed for the first time. 

Also, I wrote the introduction!

The New Remy V: Unaged Cognac or French Pisco?

I finally got the press release for Remy V, the new product debuting in September in two trial markets- the San Francisco Bay Area and Atlanta. I'd heard the word on the street about this and posted a couple hints to my Twitter feed and Facebook page last and this week, but this was the first I got an actual press release on it. 

 

Remy V is not a cognac because it is unaged- just double-distilled on the lees like cognac, chill-filtered, and rested before bottling. They're releasing the product with cocktail recipes from mixologist Charles Hardwick. 

I guess the proper name for this product would be a grape eau de vie or grape brandy. It's not a cognac since it's not aged long enough. It's not a marc (which is French grappa) because that is made from the leftovers of wine production rather than with the whole grape. 

It might be close to Peruvian pisco in that it is distilled from grapes in pot stills. Pisco comes from Peru or Chile, though (in Chile pisco can be column-distilled and slightly aged), so obviously this product won't be billing itself as a pisco. Furthermore, pisco is distilled only one time in a pot still and it is distilled to proof, meaning no water is added before bottling. Cognac is distilled twice and usually watered to bottling proof. One would expect Remy V to be more neutral and less grapey than pisco, but it's impossible to say at this point. 

So the big question is how the product tastes. I don't know yet, but I can't wait to find out. 

 

Latin, Packing, Pisco: A Few Articles I've Written Lately

I've had several stories come out recently, so I thought I'd share them here. This blog is also my resume, after all. 

Friday I wrote about my recent piece in the daily email Tasting Table San Francisco. This one is about Encanto Pisco, brought to us by a bartender, a sommelier, and a distiller. 

Attention people attending Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July: My story about what to pack for the week (for media, speakers, bartenders, PR, and brand reps) in the June issue of Tasting Panel Magazine is now online. 

 In the July issue of Executive Travel Magazine I have a story on the Latin libations that are hot and the ones that soon will be. 

I have recently become a regular contributor to SilverKris, the in-flight magazine for Singapore Airlines. Unfortunately the magazine is not online. Recent stories have focused on new classic cocktails, the return of absinthe, and where to drink in Wellington, New Zealand. 

Frisco Pisco: Locally-owned Encanto Pisco Launches in San Francisco

The new Encanto pisco, released in San Francsisco this past weekend, is the collaboration between  a distiller, a bartender, and a sommelier: Peruvian distiller Carlos Romero, Cantina owner Duggan McDonnell, and sommelier/importer Walter Moore. 

This bottling is a blend of three aromatic and non-aromatic grape varieties that give it both body and grape-floral aromatics for maximum blendability. 

You'll already find it at 30 accounts (liquor stores, bars, and restaurants) in San Francisco.

For a little more information check out the Encanto Pisco website or read my write-up in today's Tasting Table San Francisco.  

The Perudriver: A Cocktail with Pisco, Orange Juice, and Orange Liqueur

 

I was trying to create a cocktail for my seminar at Tales of the Cocktail using an orange liqueur, a sponsor of my session. After attempts at an Orange Negroni and Orange Absinthe Frappe that both failed, I came up with this way-too-simple and drinkable-as-heck cocktail, perfect for summer days and morning cocktailing. I really don't like the screwdriver as a cocktail, but I *love* this. 

The Perudriver
by Camper English

3.5 ounces fresh orange juice
1 ounce pisco
1/2 ounce orange liqueur (cognac-based)

Add all ingredients to an ice-filled glass and stir. 

 

New Booze: Macchu Pisco, Pisco Gran Sierpe, La Diablada Pisco

I have three new-to-me piscos to try. Pisco is grape brandy from Peru and Chile, though most people respect the stuff from Peru more. It can be made from aromatic grapes like Italia, non-aromatic grapes like Quebranta, or a mix of styles which is labeled acholado.

Gran Sierpe Pisco, according to the website, comes in Quebranta, Italia, and Acholado bottlings. I am not sure if these are all available in the United States or just the quebranta that they sent me to try.

Gran Sierpe Quebranta smells grapey, as you'd expect. It's not as musty as some other brands, and has a pretty typical savory orange-vanilla notes as well. Sampled at room temperature, it is quite robust in flavor and power (it is 42% ABV compared with other brands' 40%) of dry green grape skins, finishing hot and slightly tannic. The aftertaste that kicks in after the heat and spice finally dies off is of fresh grape juice.

Macchu Pisco is also a quebranta grape-based pisco. It has a milder and more savory/gamey nose than Gran Sierpe, with more vanilla and less grape skin. On the palate it is similar to its aromas, but with more lime and earthy/soil notes than Gran Sierpe.

Between the two, Gran Sierpe is brighter and more aggressive. Macchu Pisco is more earthy. I prefer the Macchu Pisco for sipping neat but give the slightly higher proof of Gran Sierpe that might possibly show better in cocktails. I'll have to test that later.

Also from Macchu Pisco is La Diablada, an acholado pisco with a more traditional label. Though acholado pisco is  a blend of aromatic and non-aromatic grapes, the floral notes pop out of this one- all sorts of white flowers like elderflower and jasmine, with a good deal of blueberry and below that the grape aroma. In the mouth the same floral flavors dominate but then the finish is quite tight and tannic, fading away to floral aromas in the front of the mouth and not much else on the palate. Again, this is one I'll have to test in cocktails to see if it is too floral without enough oomph.

New History on the Pisco Sour

 Guillermo Toro-Lira is probably the US's leading pisco historian, devoting years' worth of study to drinks such as the Pisco Punch and Pisco Sour. The latter drink was created by Victor Morris, an American who moved to Peru with the mining trade and opened a bar. Toro-Lira got hold of the register of Morris' bar, and this revealed many truths about the history of the Pisco Sour.

For background, the Pisco Sour is a simple sour, made with pisco, lemon or lime, sugar, and often an egg white and bitters. It is no revelation, based on the traditional sour recipe, but in this case we have a good idea of its origin. Pisco is a grape brandy from Peru and traditionally distilled in pot stills and unaged, as opposed to Chilean pisco that is a latecomer, usually distilled in column stills and sometimes briefly aged.

To read Toro-Lira's recent discoveries and theories based on Morris' bar register, check out the article here.