The Glenlivet Distillery

The Glenlivet’s story

The Glenlivet is one of the most famous distilleries and Scotch whisky brands in the world and is located near to the small village of Ballindalloch in the heart of the Speyside region. The distillery takes its name from its location in the Livet Glen, which is regarded by many as the perfect place for making whisky due to the natural surroundings, quality of water and climate. The spirit produced at The Glenlivet is light, fruity and floral and typical of the traditional Speyside style.

The Glenlivet single malts are currently the second highest selling in the world, just behind Glenfiddich and ahead of Macallan, Glenmorangie and Laphroaig in the Top 5. It has been the number one in America since the mid 1970s, where it has always enjoyed a strong market share. This is due to foundations that were laid during the Prohibition era (1920 to 1933), when the owners of The Glenlivet went to the USA and established contacts and outlets for the sale of their whiskies, despite the sale of alcohol being illegal.

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The Glenlivet’s history

The Glenlivet was founded 1824 and was the first distillery in the Speyside region to be granted a Licence To Distil under the new Parliamentary act passed that year – The Excise Act 1823. Prior to that, there were over 200 illegal stills known to operating in the area, mostly run by local farmers and smugglers. The Parliamentary act was pushed through by the Duke of Gordon, who owned land in the north of Scotland including some within Speyside. The original name was Minmore distillery, after the farm upon which it was built. It was renamed as The Glenlivet Distillery in 1859.

The Duke encouraged George Smith, who was one of his land tenants, to build a legal distillery on some of his farmland. This action led to other local illegal distillers becoming very unhappy and violent towards Smith as much of the money that they made from selling their illicit whisky was sucked up by the new distillery. As a result, the Duke equipped Smith with two pistols for his safety – these can be viewed in the current visitor centre.

The Glenlivet was expanded in 1858 to meet increased demand and a few years later was expanded again to meet up with the new Spey Rail line, that was built to connect Inverness and Aberdeen. This was a significant development as it enabled The Glenlivet whisky to be transported easily out of the local area – south to the borders, England and out into the expanding British Empire. The reputation of The Glenlivet’s whisky grew and soon many other local Speyside distilleries were attaching its name to their own whisky, as a sign of quality (eg: Glen Grant-Glenlivet, Aberlour-Glenlivet, Glenrothes-Glenlivet etc).

The owners of Glenlivet fought this in the courts and won the right to call their own whisky as ‘The Glenlivet’. Aside from this, it was agreed that only distilleries in the Livet Glen could attach the word ‘Glenlivet’ to their name. This was practiced until around 2010 by The Glenlivet’s two immediate neighbours, Tamnavulin and Tomintoul. The current owners are Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky arm of drinks giant Pernod Ricard, who took control in 2001. They have overseen massive growth in sales and a huge expansion of the distillery – this happened in two phases since 2009, raising production capacity from 5.8 million to 21 million litres per annum.

• How to pronounce Glenlivet? glen-liv-it
• Country: Scotland
• Region: Speyside
• Founded: 1824
• Current owners: Chivas Brothers
• Production capacity per year: 21 million litres
• Mash tun: 2x 14 ton
• Washbacks: 32
• Stills: 28
• Visitor centre: Yes

The Glenlivet Distillery
Ballindalloch
Banffshire
AB37 9DB
tel – +44(0)1340 821 720
www.theglenlivet.com

Did you know?

Glenlivet is one of the remotest and most haunted glens in Scotland. There are many local tales of ghosts, spectres, witches, warlocks, kelpies (evil spirit horses that drown travellers) and fairies. There is said to be a grey lady that resided in Minmore House that adjoins the Glenlivet distillery. She is said to have not been seen since the house was exorcised in 2012 …