One export shows no sign of slowing down amid the credit crunch. Demand for Scotch whisky, particularly in the Far East, has grown so fast that the industry is in danger of running short of supplies.

Sales to Singapore and China have risen from £45 million five years ago to £300 million last year, and now some exporters to the area cannot find supplies; the last batch of whisky was laid down to mature before demand really took off. “It’s almost as if Scotland is running out of her water of life,” a disgruntled agent said.

The rise in exports of Scotch is good news for the big operators but tricky for smaller fry. Douglas Smith, a former manager at Gaelic Whisky, on Skye, emigrated to Australia hoping to start a whisky exporting business to South East Asia with his fiancée. They could find nobody in Scotland with stocks to sell them so that they could launch their business.

Sources in the whisky industry say that it is responding with high levels of investment in plant. The problem is getting supply levels right. Too much, and there will be a glut on the market; too little, and rival drinks could threaten the bonanza.

David Williamson, an industry spokesman, said: “Some journalists tell me we will soon be producing too much, others too little, so we have probably got it about right.”

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