Glenlivet

George Smith, a well-known illicit distiller in Glenlivet and a tenant of the Duke of Gordon, was the first person to acquire a license under the 1823 Excise Act. He went into production on his farm at Upper Drummin, much to the chagrin of his fellow smugglers, who attempted to burn down his small distillery, seeing him as a turncoat. The laird of Aberlour gave him a pair of pistols to defend himself. By the late 1820s his whisky was being represented by Andrew Usher & Co of Edinburgh, and by the 1850s Glenlivet was so famous that many other distillers had attached the appellation to their own products. In partnership with his son, James Gordon Smith, George built a larger distillery nearby at Minmore in 1858. In 1880, JG Smith was obliged to take legal action against other distilleries using the Glenlivet name. The court ruled that no other whisky could be 'The Glenlivet' although the name could be used as a suffix. By the turn of the century The Glenlivet had become the epitome of excellence, reflected today in its position as one of the world's top sellers, especially in the US. Still a family concern Glenlivet was amalgamated with Glen Grant distillery in 1953 and with Longmorn in 1970, and the whole group was acquired by Seagrams in 1977. A visitor centre was opened in 1978 in a barley loft in the oldest part of the distillery, and welcomes about 80,000 visitors a year. It was extensively refurbished in 1996/97, with a multi-media exhibition and interactive presentation, ceilidh space, restaurant and shop, and is now one of the largest and best equipped distillery visitor facilities in Scotland. 'The Glenlivet' is bottled at 12, 18 and 21 Years, and a non-aged Archive bottling was recently introduced.

Extract from "malt whisky" by the whisky expert Charles Maclean - published by Mitchell Beazley