THE world raised a glass to our national drink yesterday ... and it was all down to a Scots student who's made it rich thanks to the 'water of life'.

World Whisky Day – a concept created by an Edinburgh-born student in 2012 and sold for a six figure sum three years later – is now at its zenith and was marked by a series of events held across the globe.

Blair Bowman, 26, came up with idea and bought the website domain name while studying languages at the University of Aberdeen.

He said: “I just did it as an experiment to see if I could make a global trending topic on Twitter. And I did.

“It’s now become this amazing worldwide recognised event. People are quite surprised when they realise it’s only in its fifth year. It has a very long way to go.”

Bowman admits he knew very little about whisky before setting up a society with fellow students.

He said: “My dad had always had a bottle of Highland Park because we have relatives in Orkney. And I do remember having Laphroaig with friends at Inverleith Park in the summer before I went to uni.

“But I knew nothing really at all and when I set up this whisky society with two others at Aberdeen uni. I became secretary and I was given this task of trying to source free whisky. I was naively calling up distilleries and asking for a bottle. Initially they thought we just wanted free drink. That really wasn’t the case. We wanted to learn about it.”

When Bowman launched World Whisky Day he faced initial opposition from enthusiasts.

He said: “At the beginning I was the upstart. They were maybe concerned and scared that this 21-year-old who was doing World Whisky Day was saying the wrong things or giving the wrong message.

“I remember I got pulled in to a meeting with the Scotch Whisky Association. They were vetting me, almost - making sure I wasn’t going to do anything to damage the reputation.

“Many of the old guard were a bit taken aback with it. They hadn’t done it. They could have done it but didn’t. And I made it more of a success than they could ever have imagined.”

World Whisky Day – which is held on the third Saturday in May - has now been adopted by enthusiasts and is bringing a welcome boost to the industry in Scotland.

The customs value of overseas sales of Scotch fell by 2.4% last year to £3.86bn and the volume of whisky exports was down by 2.8% to 1.16 billion bottles.

Scotch Whisky Association spokesman Graeme Littlejohn remains optimistic.

He said: “Last year, nearly £4bn of Scotch Whisky was exported to over 200 markets, with 34 bottles every second being shipped from Scotland.

“On World Whisky Day, we should celebrate the people and the products that have made Scotch a global icon, combining the best of the traditional and modern.

“Whether it is enjoyed with coke in Spain or with cold green tea in China, or on its own, everyone can agree that Scotch is a drink of the highest quality.”

Rural Economy secretary Fergus Ewing also talked up Scotch.

He said: “Our whisky has an unrivalled international reputation and is hugely important to the Scottish economy. World Whisky Day has rapidly established itself as one of the highlights in the food and drink calendar, and is the ideal opportunity to celebrate one of our most iconic drinks, both here in Scotland and across the globe.”

That sentiment was shared by hundreds of Scots who marked the occasion with a variety of events.

Kelly Duguid, Food and Beverage Training Manager at Crieff Hydro, said: “We offered our guests a number of whisky tastings throughout the day. It was a great opportunity for all people, from whisky enthusiasts to novices, to nose and taste some stunning and diverse drams.”

Julie Trevisan Hunter, Head of Marketing at The Scotch Whisky Experience, said: “We celebrate whisky every day of the year, but World Whisky Day gives us the chance to spread the message even further - 80% of our 300,000 annual visitors are from overseas, so an international celebration of whisky could not be more appropriate.”

Aly Mathers, 31, who is Operations Manager at Aberdeen concept bar CASC, encouraged staff to get into the spirit of the day by organising a whisky tasting.

He said: “As a Scotch Whisky Ambassador and someone who has worked within the industry for a number of years, I couldn't possibly allow the day to go unnoticed. Not only am I working to promote Scotch whisky on a daily basis but I personally try to demystify Scotch in the hope that newcomers will give whisky a try.

“For years, Scotch has been seen as a premium drink, too expensive or as something for an older generation but there has definitely been a shift in perception recently. Whisky should be enjoyed by everyone, and I honestly believe that there is a flavour or style out there for everybody.”

Kai Ivalo, Director of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, added: “World Whisky Day is a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on the amazing of array of different whiskies Scotland produces and one of the country’s greatest exports.

“The day fits perfectly with our philosophy at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, which is to showcase to the world the huge spectrum of flavours within the whisky category.”

After selling World Whisky Day to a publishing firm in 2012 Bowman set himself up as a whisky consultant and says he’s still “very much involved” in the annual celebration.

He said: “I was at a launch event, I was in Islay on Friday and yesterday I was at Arthur’s Seat handing out drams.

“I also called into a lot of celebrations across the world via Facetime to wish them well. They put me on a projector at a bar in Australia. It’s still a lot of fun and quite exciting.”

He refuses to discuss the fee he secured for the rights to World Whisky Day but admits it was a six figure sum which he says was “very, very agreeable”.

Bowman added: “I was never, ever in this to make money and I never thought it would be a business. When I graduated I secured a £50,000 grant to develop World Whisky Day and everything went really, really quickly from there.

“The idea was always that folk will come to Scotland to celebrate World Whisky Day. I am very, very happy with the way it has turned out.”