Torres Pisco El Gobernador
Torres Pisco El Gobernador, NAS, 40 %
Summer is coming, and I am still stuck at home due to the corona pandemic. This is therefore the time to experiment a little. You will see a few articles going forward that will focus on other spirits than whisky, just to mix it up a little. Have no fear, though, whisky will always remain my main focus!
First up now is Torres Pisco El Gobernador. So what the heck is pisco? Here’s the short version from Wikipedia:
Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain. It had the advantages of being produced from abundant domestically grown fruit and reducing the volume of alcoholic beverages transported to remote locations.
There is a centuries old dispute between Peru and Chile as to the true origin of pisco. But the current state of affairs is this (again from Wikipedia):
Large-market countries generally allow products of both Peru and Chile to be identified as "pisco". The European Commission considers that pisco originates from Peru, but also allows the term to be used for products from Chile.
Pisco is made using grapes grouped into two categories based in aromatic expressiveness: Muscat types (Pink Muscat, Muscat of Alexandria) are very fragrant, while Pedro Jiménez, Moscatel de Asturia and Torontel are more subtle.
The Torres Pisco El Gobernador, my entry point into the world of pisco, is made in Chile using Moscatel grapes.
You can buy the Torres Pisco El Gobernador in Norway at NOK 445 (3485301), in Sweden at SEK 399 (065101), and in the UK at around GBP 32.
Nose: Fresh summer notes. Citrus, grape juice and light floral notes. Quite fragrant nose.
Taste: Surprisingly full bodied. Creamy and spicy.
Finish: Short to medium finish. Remains creamy and spicy, and now with added citrus as well.
Comment: Fresh and summer like. I do prefer it in a cocktail, especially as a Pisco Tonic (see below).
Score 82/100
I have also tried pisco in a few cocktails, and I have listed three recipes below to get you started experimenting. You can of course use pisco in a lot of other cocktails as well.
Pisco Sour
Basically a fresh variant of a whisky sour, where you replace whisky with pisco (and perhaps an extra splash of pisco)
60 ml Pisco
30 ml lime juice
20 ml simple syrup
1 egg white
Aromatic bitters
Shake contents in cocktail shaker with lots of ice. Strain into glass and garnish with drops of bitter.
Pisco Tonic
Pisco Tonic
It is said that Pisco Sour is the most Peruvian cocktail, but others claim it should be Pisco & Tonic. The reason being that quinine, the ingredient that gives tonic water its bitter taste, comes from the bark of Peru’s national tree, the cinchona.
40 ml Pisco
Tonic to taste - at least 40 ml
Pour into glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
Chilcano (or Chilanito)
40 ml Pisco
10 ml fresh lime juice
Ginger ale
Aromatic bitters
Add Pisco and lime juice to glass filled with ice cubes. Top with ginger ale and add two drops of bitters. Garnish with a lime twist.
You can mix it up by replacing the lime juice with either blood orange juice or grapefruit juice.
Two variants of Chilcano, with lime juice to the left and blood orange juice to the right (Photo: Whisky Saga)
Cheers!
- Thomas
