19. Scotland, 1821Tom watched his son turn over the barley spread out on the barn floor. The malting had just begun. Over the next two weeks the two men would take turns repeating this task, so that the sprouts could grow and produce their maltose. Paul handled the shiel, a wide square shovel designed especially for this task, with dexterity, applying supple, graceful movements. Tom started to think that, when he was Paul’s age, his father had probably sometimes watched him in the same way.
“We’ll be able to distil in a fortnight,” Paul declared, without lifting his head from his work.
Tom confirmed his son’s prediction. There was nothing left for him to teach Paul about distilling. At the age of twenty, the young man had acquired all the necessary knowledge; now, only years of experienc
