It's enough to bring a tear to a Scotsman's eye. We're on the brink of a worldwide shortage of fine whiskey and bourbons, and Australia's award-winning single malts are no exception.

Apparently any young, image-conscious urbanite wouldn't be seen dead these days without a glass of fine whiskey in hand.

With whiskey becoming the trendiest of drinks, the world is facing a shortage of fine single malts which can take up to 12 years to mature.

It might sound like all the industry's Christmases have come at once, but Bill Lark from Tasmania's Lark Distillery told 1233 ABC Newcastle's Paul Bevan the unexpected surge in demand is creating problems.

"We've certainly experienced it here in Tasmania, and right throughout Australia," Bill says.

"Even the Scottish distilleries are talking about the same issue, that the demand for malt whiskey has grown enormously over the last very short period.

"It's certainly a very cool drink."

And it seems television shows have played a crucial role in turning whiskey from a daggy beverage you might have bought as a gift for your Dad, to cutting-edge hip.

Bill says one current theory is that the American series, Boston Legal, which features two characters relaxing over a large whiskey at the end of each day, is single-handedly responsible for the most recent spike in demand.

"As soon as that show went to air, sales of whiskey soared," he says.

And it's not just the number of whiskey drinkers that's changed. So has their age.

"The demographic has changed," Bill explains.

"Certainly the age of malt whiskey drinkers, fine whiskey, has got younger."

It's not the first time popular culture has played a role in boosting sales of whiskey.

"Forty years ago people used to drink scotch, which was a blended whiskey and there was gallons and gallons of that, we were awash with scotch," Bill says.

He says the producers of fine malt whiskey and bourbons found there was no longer a market for their product, so a well-known Scottish distillery arranged for James Bond to have a preference for 10-year-old malt whiskey.

"And that was the start of a 40-year period of people appreciating fine whiskey," Bill says.

But he says this time distillers didn't see the surge in demand coming, let alone plan for it.

"None of us did," he says.

"I don't think any of the distillers in Australia I've spoken to could have anticipated the growth."

Demand for the local product is up an amazing 100% from last year, but Bill reassures whiskey-lovers the price won't be skyrocketing as well.

"The price won't go up and I can promise you if we're careful we won't run out, but what it means is we really do have to be careful about where we allocate our whiskey into what markets," he says.

Australian whiskey distillers have been winning awards around the world and starting to export to the US, Europe, Asia, Scandinavia and the UK.

"We've had to pull back from that because the demand in Australia is so strong and we really want to look after our local market," Bill says.

The local industry does have one advantage, as the Scottish distillers use massive casks which mean the whiskey takes 10-12 years to mature.

The Aussies are using smaller, 100lt barrels which have produced award-winning whiskeys after only six years.

"But we still have to be able to predict in six years what will the market be like, and it's not easy," Bill adds.

However, with the major Scottish distilleries investing significantly in increasing their production, Bill says Australian distillers can feel confident the future for single malts is "looking fantastic for a long while yet".

And that's good news for all those new converts to the subtle pleasures of a fine whiskey.

"It's not one of those drinks you drink to guzzle, you might not drink it with a hamburger, but certainly more people are choosing to enjoy whiskey with food," Bill says.

Note: The spelling "whiskey" has been used as per the American and Irish usage, as the upsurge in demand began in the US.