History of Pisco

Inca Gold Pisco was first commercially produced in 1776 in Ica, Peru where the semiarid climate of the Pacific coast nurtured grape varietals brought to South America by Spanish explorers.

These varietals flourished in their new environment, producing excellent wines that were exported to Europe until the 17th century when the King of Spain banned their production.

Prohibited from making wine, farmers began distilling their grape must and the result was a crystal clear, flavorful and potent spirit they called Pisco.  In a nearby town and sea port, both sharing the name Pisco sea merchants discovered this new spirit and carried it north to California in large clay pots that were also called “Piskos”, and so the appellation of “Pisco” was born.

As Pisco became readily available in San Francisco and the surrounding gold-rush areas, it quickly became the spirit of choice for its characteristic flavor and potency. Duncan Nicol, proprietor of the Bank Exchange Saloon in San Francisco seized on Pisco and concocted one of the earliest American cocktails, Pisco Punch.

Pisco Punch was a tremendous success in the financial district of San Francisco and gained worldwide fame when such travelers as Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain and Harold Ross (founder of “New Yorker” magazine) marveled at it's effect on the consumer. In 1889, in Rudyard Kipling’s epic from Sea to Sea, he immortalized Pisco Punch writing that it, “is compounded of the shavings of cherub’s wings, the glory of a tropical dawn, the red clouds of sunset and the fragments of lost epics by dead masters.”

Recently, a book has been published, “Wings of Cherubs", which recounts the origins of and influence of Pisco Punch on San Francisco. Details can be viewed at www.piscopunch.com.

Unfortunately, prohibition closed the doors of the saloon and the recipe of Pisco Punch went to the grave with Duncan Nicols. There have been numerous attempts to duplicate the original recipe and many claim to have succeeded. Who knows, have they?