Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/31323
MASTER DISTILLERS PISCO PORTÓN PiscoRevelation The by Daedalus Howell / photos by Ryan Lely one could either be discussing Pisco Portón or its Master Distiller Johnny Schuler—or both. The two, it seems, are inextricably entwined. Add “dashing” to the descriptors and Schuler comes further into focus. Add “next big thing in American mixology” and pisco emerges front and center—and if Schuler has it his way, the brand will be Pisco Portón. W “Pisco was something that one day just knocked me down on the fl oor,” says Pisco Portón’s Master Distiller, Johnny Schuler. Founded by American energy industry veteran Brent Kallop, Pisco Portón is an ultra-pre- mium version of the mixable white spirit distilled from grapes in Peru in strict accordance with a raft of laws governing its production. In 2010, Kallop approached Schuler, then President of the National Tasters Guild and long-recognized as chef and restaurateur among other exploits, to oversee the nascent brand’s development and marketing as Master Distiller at Hacienda La Caravedo in Ica, Peru. PORTENDS THE NEXT BIG THING IN AMERICAN MIXOLOGY, THANKS TO MASTER DISTILLER JOHNNY SCHULER hen using adjectives such as “cosmopolitan,” “smooth” and “refi ned,” 88 / the tasting panel / may 201 1