The first records of distilled grains spirits appeared in Ireland and Scotland in the 1400’s. Over time, these spirits became known as whiskey, which is the anglicized version of the Gaelic word uisce beatha (Ish-ca Baa-ha) which means water of life. English colonization spread whiskey making it to both Canada and the United States and the types of whiskey they made evolved based on the grains that grew well in those climates and soils. Before the 1800’s, whiskey was largely stored in barrels simply for transportation. But, around the turn of the 19th century, people noticed that whiskey stored in barrels had a better flavor and aroma and so began purposefully aging whiskey before selling it. As distilling technology improved, it expanded the variety of whiskey styles that could be made to match the preferences of the drinking public.
Pisco is made in both Chile and Peru. In Peru, pisco can be produced in the valleys of five coastal regions: Lima, Ica, Arequipa, Poquegua, and Tacna. In contrast, Chilean pisco can only be made in two of Chile’s northern regions, Atacama and Coquimbo.
While both Chilean and Peruvian piscos are both grape based brandies they differ both in the number of grape varieties that can be used and how the spirits are distilled. In Peru, pisco can be made from four aromatic grapes, (moscatel, torontel, italia and albilla) and four non-aromatic grapes (quebranta, negra, criolla, uvina and mollar). After fermentation, the pisco must be distilled once in a pot still to strength between 38 and 48% ABV. Once the spirit is distilled they cannot add water to adjust the alcohol content. In Chile, pisco can be distilled multiple times from as many as 13 different varieties of aromatic and non-aromatic grapes. After distillation, Chilean piscos can be aged in barrels and they are allowed to proof the spirit with the addition of water to their preferred bottling strength.
Chile has four legal styles of pisco all of which are defined by their bottling strength: Pisco corriente or tradicional (bottled between 30-35% ABV), Pisco especial (bottled between 35-40% ABV), Pisco reservado (bottled between 40-43% ABV), and Gran pisco (bottled at more than 43% ABV).
Peru has three legal styles of pisco: puro (distilled from one grape variety), mosto verde (distilled from a grape where the fermentation was interrupted to leave a certain amount of residual sugar), and acholado (distilled from a mixture of different grape varieties or blend of different grape distillates).
A cocktail originally made by Victor Morris, an American bar owner living in Peru. The sour consists of pisco, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white and Angostura bitters for the garnish. The first written record for the pisco sour appeared in Hogar magazine, in September 1920.
During the San Francisco Gold Rush, pisco became a popular and expensive drink. In the 1880s Duncan Nichol created the pisco punch at the Bank Exchange and Billiard Saloon. The exact recipe is unknown but most modern versions call for pisco, lime juice, and pineapple gomme syrup. In 1889 Rudyard Kipling described the drink as "compounded of the shavings of cherub's wings, the glory of a tropical dawn, the red clouds of sunset and the fragments of lost epics by dead masters.”