Is This Patagonian Liquor The World’s Most Original Spirit?

Sep 11, 2023

A bottle of Träkál in South American rainforest.

Originality in the spirits space always feels somewhat measured. If you’re getting a new finished scotch, or a gin with a novel assortment of botanicals, you're still getting scotch or gin—both of which are confined by category-specific parameters. It's not everyday that a radically new style of liquor emerges out of the ether. But that's exactly the case with Träkál.

Billed as the "first and only Patagonian spirit," Träkál is distilled from apples and pears and then infused with a litany of flora native to the region. The Chilean export arrived on American shelves back in 2017 and it has already become a favorite among bartenders. It's easy to understand why: its herbal and floral flavor profile is versatile and sturdy enough to shine in all sorts of cocktail preparations.

And for spirit enthusiasts there is plenty to geek out about when it comes to the liquid's production notes. "I designed and built all our pots using a mixture of steel and copper to precisely manage temperature and pressure," explains Träkál co-founder Sebastian Gomez. "Our final flavoring pot still has an agitator that spins our blend of juices, alcohol, water and essential oils at exactly 50 revolutions per minute. The goal is to meld flavors and achieve consistency, regardless of season."

The final product—featuring no less than four native berries and seven indigenous herbs—could not be replicated anywhere else on earth. Everything used in production is grown within 60 miles of the distillery. And the company doesn't own orchards or agricultural reserves. This is essentially a fully-foraged product, utilizing ingredients that are collected with local hands.

"We didn't go to Patagonia just to import a bunch of stuff to the end of the world," adds Gomez. "Our educational tour is a hike through the Patagonian rain forest and our guiding principle is to craft something that could have been made here hundreds of years ago."

The director of operations in the Träkál still house.

Before he was ready to bring that mission to larger markets, Gomez and his team sought the approval of the local community. In order to ingratiate himself therein, Träkál committed itself to minimizing its industrial footprint. The distillery enjoys its own underground water source. It is free of atmospheric pollution and above-ground industrial agriculture and it employs locals in every step of the process—from foraging in the forest to triple distillation in the still house.

Today Träkál enjoys status as one of the top craft brands in Chile, where it is often subbed in for pisco in sour variations; standing in stead of rum in mojitos, or in place of gin in Negronis. You can currently find it in 22 US states, with the cocktail-friendly towns New Orleans, Chicago, and Denver acting as the biggest drivers of sales. Bottled at 84-proof, it retails for $44 online.

"We also like to think that the world didn't need another gin, whiskey or vodka," Gomez points out. "We didn't know what we intended to make at first. We just wanted to be as authentic and respectful to Patagonia as possible. And to make the best booze we could with what was there."

You can decide for yourself how successful he has been in that mission. But one thing is for certain: you’ve never tasted anything quite like Träkál.

Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile is part of the stunning local landscape surrounding ... [+] Träkál.