We are now gazing at the spirit safe.
The spirit safe was invented in 1825 to make sure that the distillery workers never got their hands on the spirit! They were prevented from tampering with the spirit by the two locks, the keys for which were held by the exciseman.
The products of each still poured through the spirit safe, enabling the still man to test the spirit as it came out to see if he wanted to keep it or not. At the left-hand end, the still man checked to see when the low wines were complete and the wash still was just producing water so that he could end the distillation.
On the right-hand side, he watched the output from the spirit still. The first liquid out of the spirit still was called the 'fore shots'; considered too volatile for whisky - it was run back in with the low wines for redistillation.
When the still man judged that the still was producing the right quality of alcohol, the 'middle cut', he turned the handle on the top of the spirit safe to run it into the oak vat called the spirit receiver.
Towards the end of the distillation he watched again to divert the 'feints', the spirit too heavy for whisky, back in with the low wines.
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