•The word "whisky" comes from the Gaelic "uisgebeatha" which means "water of life".

• After distillation, the spirit must be aged for at least three years in Scotland before it can be called Scotch whisky. However, most distillers allow much longer.

• Pure malt whisky is produced only from malted barley (barley which has started to germinate and then been dried to stop its germination).

• Blended or vatted whisky is produced from various distilleries.

• It is possible to get a malt whisky blended with other malt whiskies - but they are then not "single" malts.

• There is archaeological evidence that an alcoholic drink was made in Scotland 6,000 years ago.

• Tax was first imposed on whisky by the Scots Parliament in 1644.

• At its peak, in 1978, 300 million litres of blended whisky was sold; there has been a slow decline in consumption since then.

• A 12 year old cask will have lost around a quarter of its contents through evaporation. The disappearing whisky, which adds up to millions of litres a year in Scotland, is known as ‘the Angels' Share’.

• In Scotland, between 60/70% of the price of a bottle of whisky is due to tax.