Pisco sours are making their way from Peru to Israel. Image by Flickr/Cathrine Lindblom Gunasekara

Peru’s flagship drink will be sold for the first time in Israel, according to the South American country’s foreign trade officials.

The pisco will be available in bars and restaurants initially only in Tel Aviv.

“The pisco will compete with drinks already positioned in this market. We are confident that Israelis will get more familiar with our distillate, which will soon be among their preferences,” Peruvian foreign trade and tourism minister Magali Silva told El Comercio newspaper.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The debut is the result of intense effort by the Peruvian trade office in Tel Aviv since 2014, which is part of an international “Peru, dedicated to the world” campaign, added Silva.

The beverage will be available in Israel under the brand Barsol and also imported by a major spirits company. The name “pisco” is protected under the Israeli Patent Office to represent products distilled exclusively along the Peruvian coast between Ica and Tacna, according to La Republica newspaper.

For years, Peru and Chile have debated which was the first to invent pisco, an un-aged brandy distilled from grapes and a key ingredient in the pisco sour.

In the United States, the grape brandy was reportedly described by Chilean Nobel Prize laureate and poet Pablo Neruda as “a million rays of sunshine in a single drop.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount