BarSol Selecto Acholado pisco review

BarSol is a common name on the UK’s pisco menus, as they have several affordable and consistently good piscos. Their Selecto Acholado seemed to us to be their best. It's a blend of three grape varieties, Quebranta, Italia and Torontel, all of which make excellent piscos by themselves.

The skill of the pisco-maker is the same skill as the blender of Scottish whiskies, and the resulting blend can end up tasting even better than any of the individual spirits. Having sampled several of the BarSol single-grape piscos, that's definitely the case here, though they are all perfectly good in their own right.

The Selecto Acholado is bottled at 41.3% ABV and like all Peruvian piscos has no additives, and no water added. What you taste is the pure distilled grape juice.

Although it's only slightly stronger than most piscos, which are bottled at 40%, there's a definite smell of alcohol on the nose. There's also fresh and sweet fruit, like peaches and watermelons, and floral notes too, balanced by an earthiness. It has a pleasing spiciness, too.

Everything carries through to the palate, with the sour and spicy notes coming through, and there's a stronger citrus taste as well, which makes it feel a little like drinking grappa. It's a fine example of how good a blended pisco can be.

The Perfect Pour

Try it in a chilcano, a simple and classic pisco cocktail. Fill a highball glass with ice, add pisco and fresh lime juice. Top off with ginger ale, and add 2-3 drops of Angostura bitters and some lime wedges. You can increase the amount of pisco if you prefer your drinks a little stronger, or use ginger beer instead of ginger ale.

Read our full review of piscos

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This review was last updated in February 2020. If you have any questions or suggestions for future reviews, or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.