The whisky bottle is often a prop in TV detective dramas, in particular when being snuck out of the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet by the senior copper wishing to strike a gentleman’s deal with a colleague. It has always been regarded as part of the wheeling and dealing of powerbrokers. Think of the dinner parties in the Edwardian era, in which, after the food is finished, the ladies go into the parlour to drink coffee and play bridge, while the men drink whisky, smoke cigars and talk politics.

But as more women turn to whisky, depictions in popular culture reflect this shift. The singer Lady Gaga described Jameson whisky as one of her “love interests”. Pop artist Rihanna sings about it. The actress Christina Hendricks is featured in an advertisement for Johnnie Walker Black Label. My favourite US sitcom of the moment, Grace & Frankie, features the two main female characters enjoying a pair of whisky flights bought for them by potential suitors.

Things are slowly changing. Not only is whisky drinking in general on the rise (according to International Wine & Spirit Research, consumption across the US has increased by almost 30 per cent from a decade ago), but more women are trying it.

According to those who run the Whisky Lounge, a London- based tasting club, its London Festival last year was an even split between female and male attendees. In Taiwan, where whisky is hugely popular, women make up almost half of all whisky drinkers.

Another reason for whisky’s increasing appeal is that new whiskies are being produced that can be mixed and used as a base for cocktails. Bourbons tend to have a sweet streak, and grain-to-bottle distillers are creating all sorts of complex, flavourful spirits.

Food writer Rachel McCormack has been a whisky fan for over 20 years and is writing a book on the topic, Chasing the Dram: Finding the Spirit of Whisky (Simon & Schuster), having travelled around the Highlands and Islands of Scotland researching and drinking for the past year and a half.

“For me whisky was never a man’s drink,” says McCormack, who grew up in Scotland. “My parents had two couples who were friends and both of the wives drank whisky and soda. They were both very tall. My parents were both small and drank gin and tonic so I just assumed from a very young age that whisky was a tall person’s drink, not a man’s drink.”