montesco

1 1/2 oz La Diablada Pisco
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Ginger Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Highball glass with fresh ice. Top with 1 oz ginger ale and add a straw.

Two Tuesdays ago, I attended the La Diablada Pisco event at the Hawthorne. La Diablada is the second offering from the same people who make Macchu Pisco; while Macchu Pisco is made with the non-aromatic Quebranta grape, La Diablada is an acholado or a blend of aromatic and non-aromatic grapes, namely aromatic Moscatel and Italia and non-aromatic Quebranta. Briefly, Macchu Pisco is more earthy while La Diablada has those same low earthy notes mixed in with high floral and fruit ones. To understand more, read the post I wrote about a pisco blending seminar I attended at Tales of the Cocktail in 2011. In attendance were Melanie da Trindade-Asher, founder and CEO of Macchu Pisco (and sister of Lizzie Asher), Brother Cleve, Boston's Macchu Pisco rep who was also DJing the event, and Jackson Cannon who was making cocktails for us all.
The first drink I tried was the Montesco, created by Katie Emmerson, and subtitled "the spice of life." Jackson explained that the format of the Montesco is similar to how the Hawthorne does their Mamie Taylor with a mix of ginger syrup and ginger ale instead of ginger beer proper. Once mixed, the ginger notes were bright and sharp on the nose. A carbonated lime led into the pisco, herbal notes, and ginger spice on the swallow. Though the Montesco was a delight to drink, the robustness of the flavors here did mute out some of the wonderful notes in the La Diablada, and it was highly recommended that I try the Andean Flamingo next.