Chile celebrates National Pisco Day
As Chile commemorates its national spirit today (15 May), trade agency ProChile is putting pisco on the map in the UK.
Pisco is a grape-based spirit that has been around since the 16th century, when Spanish conquistadors arrived on Southern American shores with grapes to make wine. But however old its origins may be, the pisco party is only just getting started in the UK and Europe with the spirit coming from out of the woodwork and appearing more regularly in bar menus, at trade shows, bartending competitions and more.
Pisco is Chile’s national spirit and the country accounts for 80% of its global production. According to ProChile – the Chilean government’s trade agency – exports of pisco from Chile to the UK soared by 120% in 2024 (compared to 2023) and by 100% in comparison to the yearly average over the past five years since 2019.
While the spirit has been largely represented in the UK by the category’s biggest players (Aba, El Gobernador and Waqar), these brands are now being joined by new faces as demand continues to grow. Capel, Alto del Carmen, Bauzá, Juliá are others to watch and the amount of pisco brands available in the UK is set to double this year.
At Imbibe Live 2024 (now known as Bar Convent London), one of the world’s bigger trade shows held annually at Olympia in London, the spirit had its own dedicated Chilean pisco stand. It has also been featured at masterclasses at London Wine Fair and Notting Hill bar Los Mochis, as well as Harrisons Coffee in Paddington (the only Chilean restaurant in the UK, which also has the approval of actor Pedro Pascal), and which even introduced the first ready-to-drink (RTD) Pisco Sour in UK retail.
Pisco cocktail map
So pisco might be alive and well in the UK, but where can one readily find it, and quickly? ProChile has come up with an answer in the form of an online ‘compass’ that pinpoints the location of all bars, luxury restaurants and hotels in London where one can sample the spirit – serving as a pisco trail of sorts, whether that be taking users down the stairs of Soho jazz den Ronnie Scott’s or to the five-star Peninsula hotel.
The compass can be downloaded on the official international website for pisco (www.piscospirit.com) and also covers the rest of the UK, including Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester, the latter where El Gobernador can be spotted on the menu of the acclaimed Schofield’s Bar.
Pisco’s popularity outside of its home is led by the Pisco Sour. Often regarded as the flagbearer for pisco internationally, the cocktail is the name that most springs to mind when talking about the spirit; made with three parts transparent pisco, one part sugar or sugar syrup, one part lemon juice and ice. Proper shaking (at least for three-five minutes) is required to achieve the cocktail’s uniform texture, so shake hard, and ice is needed to cool the cocktail without diluting it.
Although the Pisco Sour is the launchpad into the category, there’s a breadth of other pisco cocktails to discover as well. The official website for pisco provides a set of recommend recipes that branch out from the Sour, though that is included on the website too.
Versatile spirit
Pisco is a versatile spirit that takes after different varieties based on alcohol content and ageing. A common thought is that pisco is a clear spirit, which it can be in its lighter transparent expressions with lower strength ABVs (tradicional and especial styles), but in Chile, the spirit is actually more widely consumed in its aged forms, where it has a yellow-ish, amber colour.
Barrel ageing imparts distinctive character to pisco and noble woods like oak and raulí are used to influence richness of the spirit. There’s guarda (mellow pisco), which is aged for 180 days, unveiling subtle complexities, and the envejecido (aged pisco), which spends 360 days in barrels to bring out a symphony of mature flavours.
Meanwhile, to amplify versatility and sophistication, Chilean pisco artisans also employ a double or triple distillation to extract the purest essence from the heart of Chilean wine.
This broad spectrum of styles allows pisco to perform in a range of cocktails. The Sour might have made pisco famous around the world, but for something complex and aromatic the Serena Connection can be a go-to (combining one part aged pisco with one part amaretto, cloves, an orange peel and a Chilean cherry).
For something refreshing and tart, there’s the Picocroppino, made with transparent pisco, limoncello, three scoops of lemon sorbet and topped with prosecco, while pisco can also used as a twist on classic cocktails such as in a Mule or a Gin and Tonic.
Pisco’s versatility will be on show again at the Pisco Masters UK, which made its debut last October and is set return today.
Organised by ProChile with drinks consultancy Wet & Dry, the competition tasks eight bartenders with creating original pisco cocktails made with British ingredients. Bartenders from venues as Callooh Callay, Trailer Hapiness, Laki Kane, and Cocktail Trading Co will be in the running and it all goes down at Rhum Tavern in Oxford Circus.
The date, 15 May, is a special one – National Pisco Day, a day officially established in 2009 by Chile’s former president Michelle Bachelet to celebrate the spirit and its designation of origin (DO), which was established in 1931. It is the first spirit to receive such a distinction in the Americas, and the second oldest spirit to gain the DO worldwide.
Related news
Pisco Masters UK contest returns
