If ever there was a town named in a nagging, “nanny, nanny boo-boo” sort of way, it’s Pisco Elqui. This arid Chilean outpost cowers below an ethereal Andean moonscape and was, up until 1936, known by the less goading name of “La Union.” That’s when government officials interested in a bit of patriotic marketing within the vine-blanketed Elqui Valley rechristened the three-street town “Pisco.” The abrupt name change was part of Chile’s bid to validate an Appellation of Origin claim for the brandy of the same name, but there were problems right from the start… (continue reading on PUNCH)