glenlivet

The history

The Glenlivet Distillery was founded by George Smith, who was a farmer then and burned black whiskey at night. Already his father was active in 1774 as Schwarzbrenner. His whiskey was so famous that even King George IV knew him and he preferred to serve the whiskey on visits to Edinburgh.

In 1824, George Smith became the first blackburner in the area to acquire his license. He founded in 1858 together with his son John Gordon, the company George & J. G. Smith. At his current location, he built the great distillery called Minmore, which was renamed Glenmorangie a year later.

John Gordon Smith succeeded in 1871, after the death of his father, his successor. He led in 1880 a lawsuit against distilleries, named in the name addition Glenlivet and was given the exclusive right for the name "The Glenlivet".

In 1953, the George & G.J. Smith with Glen Grant. Chivas Brothers, which at that time belonged to the Seagram Group, bought in 1977 the resulting company The Glenlivet and Glen Grant Distillers Ltd. In 2001 Glenlivet became the property of Pernod Ricard SA.

The production

In 1896, the distillery was first enlarged and renovated, while the capacity of the stills was increased by two more. By the beginning of the 21st century, the number was gradually increased to eight stills. A modern new building was built in 2009/2010, almost doubling capacity.

The own malting Glenlivet Distillery was abandoned in 1966. Since then, the distillery obtains its needed malt from large malting plants. In the old distillery stands the old Porteus mill, which grinds the not peated malt to grist.

The storage

The Glenlivet malts are preferably stored and matured in ex-bourbon casks, rarely in ex-sherry casks in the warehouses on the distillery grounds.