Pisco

Spirits & brews· spirit

What it is

Pisco is a brandy distilled from grapes in Peru or Chile, typically unaged or aged only briefly.

What it tastes like

On the nose: almond; the house adds grape must, floral, soft caramel ✳. Among its measured molecules: acetaldehyde, furfural, acetic acid.

What goes with it

Salt and acid

Salt

Salt not measured yet.

Acid

Acid not measured yet.

Unusual pairings

Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.

Every one of its 4 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

acetic acidaromaacidreads as pungent (PubChem)Measured in 35 of 338 ingredients.cite
5.6-81.4 mg/100 mL across 90 body-fraction samples, mean 28.2 — higher in the body than in either the head or the tail — Wu et al. 2026, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 1, row 'acetic acid (mg/100 mL)', fraction 'body')
acetaldehydearomaaldehydereads as pungent, fruity odor (PubChem)Measured in 18 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.50-14.43 mg/100 mL across 87 body-fraction samples, mean 3.58; the head fraction runs to 112.76 and is cut away — Wu et al. 2026, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 1 (Summary of Major Quality Parameters in Pisco of the Head, Body, and Tail Based on GC-FID Analysis), row 'acetaldehyde (mg/100 mL)', fraction 'body')
furfuralaromafuranreads as almond-like odor (PubChem)Measured in 33 of 338 ingredients.cite
0.32-4.10 mg/100 mL across 84 body-fraction samples, mean 1.62; the regulatory limit is 5 mg/100 mL and 14 of 17 tail samples exceed it — Wu et al. 2026, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Table 1, row 'furfural (mg/100 mL)', fraction 'body')

Sources