|
|
|
|
Scotch Whisky Island Discovers Identical Twin
Islay, Scotland’s famous whisky island, home to distilleries such as Bruichladdich, Laphroaig and Ardbeg, has a doppelgänger: an identical twin on the other side of the planet.
Not only does the twin have the same birth, it also has the same name and characteristics.
Bruichladdich’s MD Mark Reynier explains: “We use a special spring for the water when bottling our whisky. It comes was an 1800 million year old Gneiss rocks - more than 3 times older than the rest of the island – and the oldest rock in the scotch whisky world.”
He consulted the geologist Martin Litherland and the world’s leading expert Professor Ian Dalziel of the Institute of Geophystics at The University of Texas.
The theory is that 750 million years ago the planet consisted of a single super-continent of Rodinia, made up of several sub-continents.
One continent, Laurentia (later to be North America) moved laterally against Gondwana (the proto-South American continent) and Islay’s Rhinns peninsula was torn off Gondwana and stuck onto Laurentia (Scotland).
“After a form of continental pinball Scotland (Laurentia) was rammed on to England (Avalonia) and the rest of Europe (Baltica) during the Caledonian Orogeny 450 million years ago.”
The Rhinns Peninsular had been torn off what is today the Arequipa coast of Peru. Arequipa, an Inca settlement, shared the exact same Gneiss rock as the Rhinns.
But Reynier was astounded to discover it also shared the same name too: Islay.
The Islay Doppelgänger, or identical twin, may be 6000 miles away but has a disturbingly similar existence:
“Like Islay Scotland, Islay Peru has beautiful sandy beaches, outstanding ocean coastline, a developing tourist industry.
“It is equally ignored by central government suffering under investment, shortage of housing and poor transport infrastructure.
“Fishing and farming are also the main industries: The Rhinns has Alpacas and they distil alcohol!
“The Peruvians were as astounded as I was when I explained the situation. They have no idea where the name came from and yet they pronounce it exactly the same way”
The Mayor of Islay (Peru) Miguel Roman visited Bruichladdich Distillery for their 125th Anniversary celebrations on Sunday 28th May as guest of honour.
Much to his surprise, and despite total disbelief of islanders, Local councillor Robin Currie is discussing the possibility of twinning the two Islays.
Further details Mark: 07799346137 www.bruichladdich.com . Mollendo.com
County of Arequipa:
Mollendo, capital of province of Islay is 120 kms. from Arequipa. 1993 pop. 26,724 The climate ranges from 12ºC and 30ºC
Islay is close to the Chilean and Bolivian Border Satellite images of Islay, Peru: http://freespaces.com/mollendo/mollsat.htm
Area 3,886 Km2 Density 13.68 p/Km2
Islay Scotland: pop: 3,500 people Area 600 km2 Density 6 p/km2
Islay Peru is divided in to 4 geographical regions:
The Coast: 90 kilometers long this is a narrow strip between the sea and the Coastal Mountain range. Beaches and cliffs, as well as depressions, zones located under the sea. level
Main Valley: the river Tambo, 60 kms length of the river flows through Islay. Many gorges dry valleys filled with sporadic rain water.
Coastal Mountain Range - a system of hills surrounds running parallel to the coast, between a 10 and 15 kilometers wide and 500 to 1 000 meters high. On the seaward side they rise steeply and towards the East the land is undulating until losing itself in the Costanera Plain.
Costanera Plain: level and barren, a desert known as the "Pampas" 45 kilometers in width.
Climate: two types of climate: Steppe and Desert: Steppe climate with annual average temperature of 17ºC. All populated centres are in this climate. Desert Climate, with average temperature of 18ºC. accounts for 70 percent of the provincial surface between 250 and 1 500 metres.
Two Ecological Zones: Sub Tropical Desert and Low Mountain Desert.
Sub-Tropical Desert: between 0 and 1200 metres, covering a 3,700 km2. Two fertile areas, one formed by plains the other alluvial ground where the agricultural zone is located.
Low Mountain Desert. rough relief, mountainous hills and zones without vegetation. Little flora with exception of the Coastal Mountains that form a barrier that holds back winter fogs. There is very little natural vegetation.
River Tambo 2,500 kilometers square catchment area. Its course is very winding and has an average gradient of only 1.4% |
