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Pisco / Feature Articles

By Kevin Raub
for LonelyPlanet.com

Who really invented this much-loved brandy? Peru and Chile go head to head over their national drink.

South America has seen its fair share of battles, but its longest-standing war has been about shots of a different kind. For some 500 years, Chile and Peru have been fighting like two catty schoolgirls over pisco, a regional brandy commonly made from Quebranta or Muscat grapes. The conflict grows particularly heated over the pisco sour, a classic cocktail made with the brandy.
Both countries have installed laws at various points in history in an attempt to establish their pisco as the only pisco.

The pisco sour tastes like a cross between a margarita and a whisky sour. It's made with cane sugar, egg whites, lemon, and a dash of Angostura bitters. In both countries it's the national cocktail, much like Brazil's caipirinha and Mexico's margarita. Both countries have installed laws at various points in history in an attempt to establish their pisco as the only pisco (even going as far as banning each other's version). It's pretty much all-out war.

Ask a Chilean or Peruvian about pisco and you're sure to get a rise out of them. 'We Peruvians must feel proud of having pisco, a high-quality product that is present in all celebrations and parties,' says 58-year-old Celestino del Pino Cayampi, head bartender at the JW Marriott Hotel in Lima and a 34-year veteran in the field. 'It's a really important part of the essence of our society, not only because of what it is, but also because of what it means: a national product, a drink that identifies us.'

Peruvians trace their pisco to the Incan Empire (which thrived in South America in the 15th century) and Quechua, Peru's indigenous language. 'The denominación de origen Pisco belongs to the Peruvian State because the name pisco is a genuine Peruvian word - it came from a Quechua word meaning 'bird' more than 3000 years ago,' explains del Pino Cayampi. 'On the Peruvian coast, there is a valley where the Piskos used to live. They were skilful potters and descendants of the pre-Incan Paracas culture. A port, a river and a city are also called Pisco. In the 16th century, a land suitable for grapes and the technological culture developed in the valleys of the south of Peru came together and resulted in the preparation of pisco, a patrimonio cultural de Perú, which is a flag product that forms part of our national identity within and beyond our borders.'

Peruvians believe Chile 'stole' pisco from them during the War of the Pacific in the late 1800s; Peru was defeated and lost land in the desert area of Tarapaca (where Peruvian-style pisco production thrived). Chileans, on the other hand, believe their marketing power has given the rest of the world pisco, and therefore most people think of the drink as a Chilean product; Chile produces nearly 50 times more per year than Peru.

In Santiago, Luis Cerda Monsalve, 40, a legendary Chilean bartender whose pisco sour recipes are available at Santiago's Ritz Bar and have been published in a book by Chile's pisco control board, believes the Spanish began making pisco in Chile. 'I've done extensive research on the history of pisco and the original was here in Chile,' he claims. 'The Spanish conquistadores came down to Chile without knowledge of making pisco. They began making wine with a grape called pais grown here in Chile and then pisco.'

Monsalve is famous in Santiago for his iconoclastic pisco sour recipes. His Ají Sour (with a spicy green chilli), Sour de Campo (with ginger and honey), and Sour Haas (with avocados, pineapple, and mint) are all the rage in Santiago, where he produces 12 varieties of pisco sours in all, ruffling some traditionalist feathers in the process. 'People came to me and said, 'How can you blend avocados with pisco?' I like to be innovative. I like avocados, I blended them, it tasted good. Simple as that. As a child, I enjoyed chemistry.'

For the record, Monsalve serves both Chilean and Peruvian pisco in his bar - unheard of in Peru. On the other hand, a little birdy in Peru reports that there are Chilean pisco companies making the drink in Peru with Peruvian grapes, then bottling and marketing it as Chilean pisco.

Regardless of which country you side with, one thing is clear: it's a war best waged over a drink.