In the land of Pisco... Do Pisco get better with time?

Posted in Cocktail magazine edition No. 01 october 2015

Sharing my first article in Cocktail magazine, was 2015,  thanking for the opportunity.

On March 15, 16 and 17 we attended the vertical tasting of Piscos organized by Eng. Juan Carlos Palma at the Agraria La Molina University. It is the first time that a work like this has been done: we were presented with pisco samples from 2003 to 2013, from the 5 pisco regions.

These samples had not been opened in all these years and / or exposed to light, so we worked several exercises of three samples each. First day with non-aromatic piscos and green must piscos, second day aromatic piscos also green must, third day acholados (blended). These were the questions: 

1.- do you say which is the oldest Pisco and which is the youngest? (they indicate the years 2005 - 2008 -2012).
2.- Do you say if these Piscos are old or young? Determine vintage.

As in all the pisco tasting work we have been doing, we cannot give a conclusive answer as to whether the piscos evolve for better or for worse with time. During the tastings we appreciate that there are changes in the piscos; that from the fifth year onwards in the non-aromatic ones we find a slight, almost null in some cases, perception of aromas, there is no freshness, the persistence in the mouth decreases, they flatten or become flattened, yes, the defects are enhanced. In the case of aromatic ones, we perceive that they preserve their aromas better, although they always lose freshness, caramelized aromas, overripe fruit, honey, are marked both in the nose and in the mouth; persistence is better than in non-aromatic ones. Here we have a dilemma: will there be consumers who like these sweet sensations? Yes, therefore these piscos can be sold, in the case of the non-aromatic ones we do not think the same way, as the lack of freshness that characterizes the young piscos does not allow it.

In addition, between tasting and tasting we were talking about what would happen if a producer includes samples older than 5 years in the pisco competitions; we as tasters cannot avoid it, that is handled directly by the Regulatory Council of the Pisco Denomination of Origin, but we can warn them so that the appropriate controls are carried out.

All the tasters present at the workshop consider that if samples of old pisco were to be presented, they would not be worthy of a great gold medal, because their characteristics give them away, the differences between 8 and 10 year old pisco and what we call young pisco (maximum 5 years old) are very clear. We still need to carry out this work by pisco regions with other tasters in order to obtain more information on this subject.

That they are different, yes; that they lose quality and freshness, yes; that the defects do not disappear if they are not enhanced, yes; these are the conclusions to date, we have yet to work with each of the 8 pisco grapes, as we have said above, pisco from the 5 regions, with different panels of tasters, with samples in bottle and in tank to see what changes we find. Our conclusion is that there is a lot to do for pisco and a lot of work. 

Stay safe drink responsibly

¡See you next time!    

By Livio Pastorino Wagner
Sommelier, Specialist and Pisco Taster.
Pisco Taster Registration: CRDO-PISCO RCO-034-2011
@elmagozurdo

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Spanish version 

Cocktail magazine

April 2015

music & pisco

Since 2006 Spreading Pisco Culture to the world
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