A Peruvian Pisco Pageant: Barsol Acholado v. Tacama Albilla v. Caravedo Mosto Verde

Peruvian pisco is one of those categories - like marc, say - that spirits nerds should be watching carefully even if they need not necessarily dive in right away. A quick look at the legal requirements should be all that's necessary to tell you it's category with enormous potential: pisco from Peru is geographically limited to a few areas, has to be single-distilled (!) in a pot still, and then (after resting for a few months only in neutral vessels) bottled with no additives and no dilution from still strength. So no columns, no oak, and no cheating (it's typically wild fermented too). That, plus a lot of it being made in small microdistilleries throughout the countryside, is a recipe for seriously rich and distinctive spirits - it's just that most of what's coming into the US market (typically as pisco sour fodder) is from larger producers/negociants with the ABVs rather curiously, uh, uniform. So at the moment the category is a little bit like mezcal was a decade and a half ago, perhaps more novelty and promise than realization.

That being said, the stuff that's out there right now? On tasting and review, still actually pretty good. Stats:

Barsol Pisco Acholado (Bodega San Isidro; from Quebranta, Italia, and Torontel; bottled circa 2020, 41.3% ABV), 83/100
Tacama "Demonio de los Andes" Pisco Albilla (100% albilla; bottled circa 2020; 43%), 82/100
Caravedo Mosto Verde Pisco (Porton; Env 08/20, Lot 17ACH0024, Cosecha 2016; from quebranta, torontel, italia, and albilla; 43% ABV), 84+/100

These three bottles in turn represent three major styles in Peruvian Pisco, namely an acholado (any blend of different grapes, as opposed to a "puro" from only one), an aromáticas (a puro from any of the muscat or muscat-like "aromatic" grape types, albilla in this case), and a mosto verde ("green must," distilled before the must has finished fermenting). A basic quebranta puro would have completed the set - quebranta is by far the most prevalent grape used - but this trio should still give you a good sense of the stuff on the shelves (wherever your local store may have ended up stuffing their bottles). And given how solid these relatively "safe" offerings already are, I can't help but get still more excited by the idea of some importer doing the work of tracking down the really good artisan producers and putting them on a global stage. And that could even be you, dear viewer, provided you're curious and willing to put in the time and money...

(I also rant about how awesome muscat is. Because if you're not hitting the beach with a bottle of awesome Piedmontese muscat, made by some stunning winemaker who normally sells $100+ Barolos - one that you bought for basically nothing - you're doing Summer all wrong.)