El Patio Spanish

Pisco is a high-proof spirit made from carefully selected grapes. It was created to replace orujo - a distilled liquor that Spanish settlers had brought with them to the New World. Both Chile and Peru have slightly different types of pisco, but both claim to be the sole architects of the Pisco Sour. 

If you're in Peru they will tell you about US Ex-Pat Victor Vaughen Morris. They say he invented the iconic national cocktail in his bar in 1920s Lima.

Now if you're in Chile it's a completely different story.

The claim to their national drink reportedly comes from a British maritime history: To keep scurvy at bay, the navy instructed sailors to consume a lemon a day. A whole lemon on its own is unpalatable. So adding a stiff liquor like Pisco and a spot of sugar proved a delightful solution. Elliot Stubb then brought the sailors drink to a bar in the port city of Iquique for the first time in 1872.

Clearly both conflicting tales can't describe the true origins of the much loved cocktail - but these stories are nonetheless part of both Chile and Peru's national heritage and a source of national pride