A wee dram does ye good

FORGET ABOUT THAT silly old Atkins diet. And while you're at it, tell that South Beach nonsense to sling its proverbial hook, too. The true answer to maintaining a svelte, gym-toned appearance has been staring you in the face every time you've ordered pints of beer and packets of crisps at the bar.

Well, OK - not really. But a single shot of whisky contains a mere 55 calories and, unlike many forms of alcohol, is low in sugar. A study in The British Medical Journal found that small doses of the stuff can also help prevent heart disease, while reducing the likelihood of strokes and cataracts. Moderate drinkers are also apparently 30 per cent more likely than teetotallers to survive a heart attack, according to the research.

And with a name - an English corruption of the Scottish and Irish Gaelic 'uisege beatha' or 'usquebaugh' - that translates as 'water of life', perhaps the time is ripe for a major re-evaluation. Although it won't do you any good rushing out to the supermarket to pick up a bottle of cheap and nasty.

'Basic whisky - the really cheap stuff - tastes like a brown paper bag,' says D.C. Bull of Wan Chai bar One-fifth, which is organising a whisky-tasting course that will run during the bleak winter months of January and February. Whisky 101 is a four-evening introduction to Scotland's greatest export, held over four weeks and beginning on January 15.

The idea is to offer a treat to whisky aficionados, while giving an introduction to those unable to tell the difference between single malt and vatted malt, or who wouldn't know a Speyside whisky from one from the West Isles. So that's quite a few of us, then.

'It's very much like tasting wine,' explains Bull. 'Your palette is divided up in the same way, whether it's whisky, vodka or whatever.'

So how does the casual whisky drinker distinguish between whiskies using only their tongue, especially when some inferior blends can leave you with the impression that your mouth and tonsils are on fire?