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The Glenlivet is a Speyside Single malt Scotch Whisky produced by The Glenlivet Distillery in Ballindalloch, Scotland. The distillery is operated by Chivas for Seagram.
History
The distillery was founded in 1824 by George Smith and his son, John Gordon Smith; it was the first licensed distillery in Scotland. The current distillery was built in 1858, near where the rivers Avon and Livet meet. In 1880, the Smiths won exclusive rights to the name The Glenlivet, enabling them to protect their trademark against encroachment by other, lesser quality whiskies.
The whisky originates in the Glen of the Livet, and two other distillers, Tamnavulin and Braes, are also in the area, with the latter also owned by Seagram. In the Avon valley, the Tomintoul distillery also uses the term "Glenlivet" on its label. The nearest town to the Livet glen is Tomintoul, Scotland, which is approximately ten miles (16 kilometres) south.
In 1977 the distillery was purchased by the North American alcohol giant Seagram, which has heavily promoted it in the American market; it is now the most widely sold single malt Scotch in the USA.
In 1827 James Hogg said of the whisky:
- Gie me the real Glenlivet... the human mind never tires o' Glenlivet. If a body could just find oot the exac' proportion and quantity that ouight to be drunk every day, and keep to that, I verily trow that he might leeve for ever, without dying at a', and that doctors and kirkyards would go oot o' fashion. (quoted in Cooper 1992)
Proprietary Bottlings
12 Years; 15 Years French Oak Reserve; 18 Years; 21 Years Archive
External links
References
"The Glenlivet"