A Muddled Thought

Passion, in the spirits industry you often find the best spirits come from those who define this term.
My first meeting with Herbie Loebl, was initially via email, then a lengthy phone call and finally in person. The first thing I realized when I began speaking to him, is that he’s incredibly passionate about pisco.

At the time, pisco was one of those spirits I had heard about but never really knew much about. (Apologies to Herbie, this article has been on the back burner for a quite a while.)

As I spoke to Herbie on that initial phone call, I began to understand where his passion came from. Herbie’s family has been in the pisco business for quite a long time. One could say pisco runs through Herbie’s blood. During this initial conversation Herbie, mentioned how Gran Sierpe offers three different types of pisco, based on the grapes used. These include an iItalia bottling(very aromatic), an acholado bottling(Utilizing a blend of three varieties) and a quebranta bottling(a dark non aromatic grape, that is used without blending it with other varietals).

So after my conversation I learned a few things about Gran Sierpe.

The harvesting time for the grapes used runs from August-February. All grapes are harvested from private fields owned by Gran Sierpe. All the grapes used in Gran Sierpe go from vine to being de-stemmed, pressed and then stored in stainless steel tanks for the fermentation process to begin. Depending on the type of grape, this process can take anywhere from 12-20 days to occur.

Once fermentation is completed, the grape remains essentially become a wine. This product of fermentation is then filtered and moved to copper pot stills for the distillation process to begin. Once distillation has been completed, and only the hearts of the spirit remain it’s placed in stainless steel barrels for three to nine months before being bottled. The end result of this process is a flavorful grape based spirit that can run the gambit from sweet to dry depending on which bottling you’ve chosen to sample.

As mentioned above Gran Sierpe offers three types of pisco. I took a look at the Quebranta bottlng.

Keeping in mind that pisco originates from grapes as cognac does, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a playful cognac as I sipped Gran Sierpe. From that first taste I was greeted by the presence of mellowing grapes that were soon joined by hints of sweet dough, the presence of cherries and the occasional hints of cinnamon and allspice.

Final Score: 9/10

One of Herbie’s goals aside from spreading the word (and also selling ) Gran Sierpe, is a much larger undertaking, educating the masses on all the varieties and wonders of Pisco, as it’s quite often misunderstood and just a spirit that’s used in Pisco Sours and Pisco Punch, and like any other spirit, can be used in many other cocktail recipes, with only the imagination to limit us.

Here are a few examples of pisco cocktails, that “stray from the norm”.

Peruvian Gran Prix
1 ¾ Gran Sierpe Pisco
¾ Don Julio Anejo
¾ Coconut Tea Syrup
Muddled Blueberries
Eggwhite

The Peruvian Gran Prix. A combination of Gran Sierpe Pisco, Don Julio Anejo, Coconut Tea Syrup, and Muddled Blueberries.

Some P & S
1 oz Gran Sierpe Pisco
1 oz Plymouth Gin
¾ oz Cinnamon Syrup
½ oz Maraska
½ oz Lime Juice
1 Bar Spoon Lillet Blanc

Some P&S. A combination of Gran Sierpe Pisco, Plymouth Gin, Cinnamon Syrup, Maraska and Lillet Blanc.