gap Home Help Scotland Speyside West Isles Search
Navigation toolbar
Home | Help | Scotland | Speyside | West Isles | Search

Saladin Box

The Saladin Box was a 19th century French invention which had a marked effect on malting 'technology'. It is a concrete trough with a perforated floor. The malting barley is poured into it to a depth of four feet or so and air is blown through the perforations to control the temperature. A bank of mechanical turners like giant Archimedes screws turn the germinating grain, moving slowly along the bin as they do. The corkscrew effect ensures that the grain at the bottom is moved steadily to the top. When the malted grain is ready for the kiln it is pumped out of the Saladin Box through hoses.

At Tamdhu, the one distillery still to retain a Saladin Box, two steeps fill the Saladin Box; two Boxes fill the kiln.