An Spanish thirst for whisky helped boost exports of Scotland's national drink to £2.16 billion sterling (euro 3.5 billion) in 2000, up 3 per cent on the previous year, industry figures showed today.
The Scotch Whisky Association said exports to Spain topped £300 million for the first time, confirming the Mediterranean country's top slot in world Scotch stakes.
Scotland shipped nearly 160 million bottles to Spain as thousands of trendy teenagers developed a taste for the drink.
"The industry has ploughed a great deal of time, money and marketing prowess into cultivating the Spanish market. Scotch is now the most popular spirit there - the drink of choice of the clubbing generation," SWA chairman Mr Ian Good said.
Elsewhere, overall sales to Asia - particularly South Korea - continued to show a healthy recovery, rising 5 per cent last year after a rosier economic outlook for the region.
But in another sign of continued stagnation in the Japanese economy, the number of bottles sold in the country fell by 22 per cent.
