Your day has arrived, pisco purists.
The LCBO takes a lot of heat for not having enough selection in categories that aren’t as well established as the standard rail liquors—categories like mezcal, cachaca, and pisco. The pisco situation is exacerbated by the presence of a Chilean pisco: better than nothing, but not of the right origin to satisfy the pisco purists, who long ago sided with Peru in the great rivalry between those South American neighbours.
And so, it’s curious that nobody has pointed out the presence of Pancho Fierro Pisco, which has been sitting on the shelves at Vintages for some time now. A lot of people must have assumed it wasn’t a very good pisco (or we would have heard of it), but that’s just not always the case in the booze world, where hidden gems still exist. At $27.95, this bronze-medal-winning pisco surely qualifies. It’s not the finest spirit we’ve ever tasted, but it’s aromatic and refined enough, and makes a more than acceptable pisco sour—just the sort of elegant and zesty drink to we need to make it through January.
Vintages 55038 | $27.95
Pisco Sour recipe
2 oz Peruvian Pisco
1 oz lime juice
1–2 teaspoon superfine sugar (to taste)
½ egg white
2 drops Angotura bitters
Shake all ingredients (except Angostura) well with ice. Fine strain into chilled glass and add Angostura to taste.
