TIPPLES come, tipples go. Armand Fasola serves them all stirred, shaken, on the rocks, neat, whatever.

He's stood behind a bar for the past 35 years and poured enough drinks to well sink the Titanic, I should think.

As chairman of the Thames Valley Bartenders Guild and head bartender at Danesfield House Hotel near Marlow, he's a man who knows his drinks. I went to ask him about whisky.

Armand says: "A good whisky is a lovely drink. But you do need to acquire a taste for it."

Perhaps I haven't tried hard enough. Like so many women, I just can't see the appeal of neat whisky. Why swallow something that tastes foul, catches the throat and makes me gag?

Whisky is very much a man's drink, he agrees though not totally so, of course. When you know your whiskies there's a whole world of taste and flavour to explore.

There's almost as much to know about whisky as wine, though in the case of Scotch the best in the world, just about everyone agrees at least you've only got to learn about one country. But what a range of whiskies it produces.

There are 100 distilleries in Scotland and the product of each one is distinctive, whether it's a tiny operation on a remote island or one of the major producers.

The northern Highlands tend to produce sweet and full-bodied malts, Speyside is the sweetest and richest, Dalwhinnie is full-bodied, Perthshire is drier, light and fruity, the islands tend to be peaty with a smoky nose and flavour, and Islay is the peatiest, most pungent and easiest to identify.

The spring water is each area adds its own unique quality to the Scotch.

Acceptable whiskey blends are produced in many countries, but for single malt the Scottish is considered tops, with Irish following a close second. Even the spelling of the word is unique for Scotch: its drink is 'whisky', all other countries' products are 'whiskey'.

I ask Armand about the tiny slurp of water people add to malt whisky. Does it really make such a difference?

"Certainly," he says. "Just two drops of water brings out the flavour and aroma of the whisky. It may draw out a hint of vanilla or chocolate or almond. I always put out a small jug of water on the side never iced."

Whisky blends are drunk as an aperitif, often with coke, lemonade, ginger ale or water. But single malts best and most expensive are drunk after dinner, neat or with water.

Whisky makes an interesting cocktail too, he says. Whisky Sour, for instance, is popular: whisky with lemon juice, angostura and sirope de gomme, shaken and served on ice.

He serves lots of Americans at Danesfield House and politely suggests they don't drink it 'on the rocks'. Most will still want the US whiskey, bourbon, as an aperitif, but will try different Scotch malts after dinner. Many is the evening when Armand has helped guests work their way through a selection of malts. "I encourage them to try some of the lesser known whiskies. We have more than 50 here in the bar."

He's seen lots of changes. "When I started, gin and tonic was the most popular aperitif. Today in Europe vodka is the number one aperitif, and here too it's about to take over from gin."

The big change though has been the huge interest in cocktails. Every weekend Armand and his team devise a new one to offer guests. A recent success was The Grand Calva: pommeau and cranberry juice topped up with champagne and finished with a drop of grand marnier.

Back to whisky and Armand is reluctant to name a favourite. When pressed, he names Johnny Walker Blue Label: "It's very smooth, really lovely."