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helped it happen. No, not John, Paul, George or Ringo, but the Phylloxera beetle, which wiped out the vineyards of France, destroying their wine and Brandy industry. By the time they recovered Scotch whisky, with the invention of new mixed blends, had become the spirit of choice. Since then even the French have drunk more whisky than congac.

Pure Malt whiskey is made from barley that has actually started to germinate and is then dried to stop the process. Single malts are always identified by the name of the distillery, although experts can tell without the label. Islay malts tend to have a peaty, or seaweedy, flavour. Lowland malts are often dryer than their fruitier, smokier Highland counterparts. And Perthshire malts, situated between the Highlands and Lowlands tend to be medium sweet, clean tasting Scotches.

Connoisseurs will argue over the best way to drink a single malt and it was always come down to individual preference, but whisky experts generally recommend drinking a single malt with water then they argue over whether it should be fifty-fifty or just "a splash"!

In 1994 there were about 2.5 billion litres of whiskey stored in bonded warehouses in Scotland, which, in those days had a sale value of about twenty thousand million pounds! But is seems some of that was given away. Because the warehouses tend to be cool damp places and casks are made of wood, some 2% of the whisky evaporates. They call this "the Angel's share"! A little thank you, perhaps, for the natural bounty of the land.

These days more than two and a half thousand brands of Scotch whisky are sold all over the world.

The traditional toast with a wee dram is Slainte, Gaelic for health, or Slainte Mhath (Slanzh'va), for good health. Well, it is, after all, the water of life!

Oh, and the term "a dram" is a recognised measure applied only to whisky. And how much is it? Well, that depends entirely on the generosity of the hand doing the pouring!

I'll leave you with this description from Mike Jackson in his Complete Guide To Single Malt Whisky "The best Scotch whiskies taste of the mountain heather, the peat, the seaweed. They taste of Scotland."

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