The Glenlivet

Following the enactment of the Alcohol Sales Act in 1823, George Smith became the first distillery in the Highlands to be licensed for distillation, and in 1824 he founded The Glenlivet on what was once a distillery on a farm called Upper Drummin. Many of the neighboring distilleries were illegal and involved smuggling. They began to rebel that George Smith was leading Glenlivet legally. The outburst of rage was so strong that George had to carry a few pistols to protect him.

The original surname Gow began to sound more English than Smith after the loss of Prince Charlie's Bonnie in 1746 at the Battle of Culloden. The Gows changed their last name to escape the ensuing enslavement that came. The Glenlivet has always been a name associated with quality to such an extent that other distilleries used its name no matter how far they were from the Livet Gorge.

To help save the brand, George Smith's son, John Gordon Smith, applied for the exclusive rights to the name, which was granted to him in 1884. The name still appears elsewhere, but by law other brands must give a hyphen and state their own name, they cannot use it alone. The large distillery, with a capacity of 5.8 million liters per year, is owned by Chivas Brothers, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. Today, The Glenlivet is the second best-selling single-type whiskey in the world and the best-selling in the United States.