Glenrothes distillery pagoda

Rising above yet more warehouses is the pagoda of Glenrothes distillery. The distinctive pagoda shape of roof originates from the time when distilleries malted their own barley. Part of that process was drying the sprouted barley above a peat fire to kill off the germination and to impart an aroma to the grain which would carry through to the finished whisky. The pagoda shape let the smoke linger around the drying barley.

Very few distilleries now do their own malting, but I'll be able to post a series of photos of the process in due course.

Note the bars on the warehouse window. Well of course!