Pisco

Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th century Spanish settlers as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain. It had the advantages of being produced from abundant domestically grown fruit and reducing the volume of alcoholic beverages transported to remote locations.

Annual pisco production in 2013 reached 30 million litres in Chile and 9.5 million litres in Peru.

The oldest use of the word pisco to denote Peruvian aguardiente dates from 1764. However, there are several, often nationalist theories about the origin of the word pisco. Pisco may have received its Quechua name from the Peruvian town of Pisco – once an important colonial port for the exportation of viticultural products – located on the coast of Peru in the valley of Pisco, by the river with the same name. Chilean linguist Rodolfo Lenz claimed that the word pisco was used all along the Pacific coast of the Americas from Arauco to Guatemala and that the word would be of Quechua origin meaning "bird".

This claim is disputed by Chilean linguist Mario Ferreccio Podesta who supports the former Real Academia Española etymology that said that pisco was originally a word for a mud container. However, the Real Academia Española actually supports the Lenz theory and underlines the Quechua origin.

Other origins for the word pisco have been explored, including a Mapudungun etymology where "pishku" has been interpreted as "something boiled in a pot," which would in this hypothesis relate to the concept of burned wine (Spanish: vino quemado).

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