The Glenlivet

George Smith's family had distilled without a licence at Upper Drumin, in the remote Glenlivet area, since 1774 (the distillery's own account, as reported by Whisky Magazine). After the Excise Act of 1823 Smith took out a licence; National Trust for Scotland archaeologists date this first legal licence in the area to 1824, and the distillery marked its 200th year in 2024. In 1840 Smith leased the Cairngorm distillery at Delnabo; the present Glenlivet distillery at Minmore was built in 1858, and the two older sites closed in 1859. A court case in 1880 left this distillery alone entitled to the name "The Glenlivet"; other distillers had to use Glenlivet as a hyphenated addition to their own names.