Spirit Style

On a bottle of Pisco Perú, you'll often find three words that can seem puzzling at first: Puro, Acholado, and Mosto Verde. These describe not quality but method. All three are single-distilled, without water and without wood, and all three follow the NTP 211.001 standard.

What does Pisco Puro mean? A Puro comes from a single grape variety, fully fermented. The best known is Pisco Puro made from Quebranta: robust, round, and restrained in aroma. Distilled from an aromatic variety like Italia or Torontel, by contrast, a Puro smells of blossom and citrus. It shows the grape variety openly, hiding nothing.

Acholado is a blend of at least two of the eight varieties, mixed either as grape must or as finished spirit. This lets the distiller combine body from Quebranta with aroma from Italia. Because every house has its own blend, an Acholado rarely tastes like its neighbor's. It's considered versatile, including in cocktails.

Mosto Verde is made from partially fermented must and therefore needs more grapes to produce the same amount of spirit. In the glass, it tends to feel softer, rounder, and slightly sweet on the finish, without any sugar having been added. Here too, the grape variety can be a single one or a blend.

The difference from Chilean Pisco lies in the regulations: Peru forbids water and wood, while Chile allows both. This isn't a matter of ranking but of two different traditions sharing the same name. More on that can be found in the Elqui and Limarí region.