GLENLIVAT OR GLENLIVET?
Why Are Other Whiskies Still Using Glenlivet In Their Name?
Recognised as one of
Highland Scotland’s most dazzling river valleys, Glenlivet was a famous
location long before The Glenlivet whisky was invented and became an enduring
symbol of its place of origin. Glenlivet, or Gleann-liobh-aite in Gaelic, means
“valley of the smooth flowing one.”The Livet river flows into the Avon above
Ballindaloch.
In the late winter of 1792,
what one farmer Andrew Smith’s infant son George could not have known was that
he was born in the epicentre of a monumental social earthquake. At its core,
this deep-rooted upheaval concerned what the average Scotsman perceived to be
his right to distill whisky unfettered by governmental interference,
regulation, or taxation. Secluded, remote Glenlivet felt the seismic shudder
more than most other places. What took place in Glenlivet over George Smith’s
lifetime sent political tremors across the whole of Britain, including deep
within the walls of Parliament.
The Glenlivet is the
prototypical single malt whisky born in Scotland’s most renowned Highlands
river valley, Glenlivet. Smugglers believed that the unusual climate of
Glenlivet, the altitude of the glen, and the mossy water of the hill streams
there, combined to give the whisky its unique character. As the excisemen
rarely visited the glen, the locals could take a long time in distilling new
spirits, running the whisky ‘lazily’ over a small fire. This was a luxury not
allowed to other smugglers, constantly on the look-out for the gaugers. Glenlivet
whisky, fully matured and with its unique flavour, soon became a great
favourite of the Lowland connoisseurs.”
Through the beaconlike
wattage of its reputation, The Glenlivet by the mid-nineteenth century made
Scotland’s malt whiskies the most prized whisky of all.
The father-and-son team of Smiths—George and John Gordon—were Highlands farmers by trade in the bucolic Banffshire district called Glenlivet. As their fledgling malt whisky business grew in fame, they turned to malt whisky distilling as a primary source of income. They operated under the guiding principles that product quality and authenticity and customer service must prevail above all else. Riding those codes through the harrowing peaks and valleys of Scotland’s turbulent whisky industry in the nineteenth century, they adeptly conquered both regional and national marketplaces. They secured these triumphs, however, only at the cost of severe personal and professional tolls.
When British King George
IV came to Scotland in 1822, the citizens of Edinburgh painted the whole town
red. During his much ballyhooed trip in August 1822, word got out that the King had
become smitten with whisky, in particular, the highly respected illicit variety
produced in or around Glenlivet. The literary source for this claim is a small
passage in the memoirs of Lady Elizabeth Grant of Rothiemurchus, the daughter
of a Scottish Member of Parliament:
"Lord Conyngham, the Chamberlain, was looking
everywhere for pure Glenlivet whisky;
the King drank nothing else. It was not to be had out of the Highlands. My
father sent word to me - I was the cellarer - to empty my pet bin, where
was whisky long in wood, long in
uncorked bottles, mild as milk, and the true contraband goût in it. Much as I
grudged this treasure it made our fortunes afterwards, showing on what trifles
great events depend.”
The King reportedly
consumed whisky during his visit in a concoction called the “Atholl-brose,” a
thick, sweetish mixture of whisky, honey and ground grain. His supposed appreciation
of smuggler’s whisky instigated a national awareness of the superior quality of
whisky from Glenlivet, which became something of a brand name for better
smugglers’ whisky. This wide recognition catapulted forward the mystique of
Scotland’s most famous glen, even though much of the illicit whisky touted as
“Glenlivet” was produced in other areas of the Highlands. The king, however,
was delighted with the quality of Lady Elizabeth's Glenlivat (sic) whisky. Just
one year later, the parliament passed a new tax law, The Excise Act of 1823 that
allowed working on small pot stills. Now, finally, the illicit distillers in
the Highlands were able to legally produce the kind of whisky that was
previously available only on the black market - the “real Glenlivet".
Cardow Distillery(today known as Cardhu) in Knockando was possibly the first Speyside distillery to be licensed under the Act. While women are often absent from the history of
Scotch whisky, they actually played a key role in the industry from its inception. One of those early whisky women was Helen Cumming, the founder of Cardhu distillery in Archiestown. Bessie Williamson, who owned Laphroaig in Islay in the 20th century, was equally influential.
George Smith acquired a
licence in 1824 for the distillery, which he operated on his farm Upper Drumin
until 1859. In old tax documents, it is listed under the name
"Drumin". From October 1826 to October 1827, George Smith produced
1,340 gallons of alcohol at the Drumin Distillery, distilled from malted
barley. However, the first legal distillery named "Glenlivat" was a completely different distillery. It belonged
to Capt. William Grant, and was in Achorachan (now being re-established as the
lost distillery of Auchorachan). The river passing by is the very same Livet,
but that section was known locally as the river Livat. With a production volume
of 1,130 gallons in 1826/1827, it was only slightly smaller than the Smith
distillery.
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| The Lost Distillery of Auchorachan |
George Smith was very
successful in the following years as a farmer and distillery owner. In 1837 he
acquired the farm Castleton of Blairfindy, in 1838, the Nevie Farm, and in 1839
the Minmore Farm. In 1850 he acquired the farm Delnaboe above Tomintoul, where
a distillery was already operating under the name Cairngrom.
By this time, most of the
illegal distilleries had disappeared, and in the valley of the Livet River there
were only two distilleries left: those of George Smith and Capt. William Grant.
In 1852, the Glenlivat Distillery was closed by Captain Grant. In 1859, Smith
also closed down his two distilleries and built a complete new distillery on
Minmore Farm, and initially this distillery was also called Minmore Distillery.
Only in the following years, Smith renamed it to "Glenlivet", and
under this name, the former Minmore Distillery later achieved international
fame.
George Smith’s The
Glenlivet was a raging success when first brought to the market in 1824-25. A
host of other distilleries in the Speyside area shamelessly tacked the word
Glenlivet to their product, despite being nowhere near the location, some as
far away as the Moray coast:
Aberlour-Glenlivet
Aultmore-Glenlivet
Balmenach-Glenlivet
Balvenie-Glenlivet
Benromach-Glenlivet
Coleburn-Glenlivet
Convalmore-Glenlivet
Cragganmore-Glenlivet
Craigellachie-Glenlivet
Dailuaine-Glenlivet
Dufftown-Glenlivet
Glenburgie-Glenlivet
Glendullan-Glenlivet
Glen Elgin-Glenlivet
Glenfarclas-Glenlivet
Glen Grant-Glenlivet
Glen Keith-Glenlivet
Glenlossie-Glenlivet
Glen Moray-Glenlivet
Glenrothes-Glenlivet
Imperial-Glenlivet
Longmorn-Glenlivet
Macallan-Glenlivet
Miltonduff-Glenlivet
Speyburn-Glenlivet
Tamdhu-Glenlivet
In 1881, George’s grandson, George Smith Grant, by then running the family firm, initiated
legal proceedings along with Andrew Usher. ‘…it was not until it was brought prominently under my
notice that in the large towns in Scotland and England dealers were beginning
to sell as Glenlivet Whisky lower priced Whiskies of a different character
bought by them as Glenfarclas Glenlivet or Cragganmore Glenlivet or some
similar combination of words calculated to deceive anyone not having local
knowledge and to cause such person, by tacking on the word Glenlivet to the
name of a particular distillery, to buy a different class of whisky at a higher
price than it would have borne in the market if left to find a purchaser under
its own name.’
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| The Glenlivet Distillery |
By 1882, Smith and
Usher began forwarding individual affidavits against each of the offending distillers. This provoked countersuits, with his competitors claiming that ‘Glenlivet’ had become a generic term during the illicit era and could now be used in the same way as ‘Islay’ to define a
style of whisky. By 1883, Smith and Usher’s legal bill had reached £30,000, and 400 affidavits had been served.
By May 1884, all the
parties were ready to compromise, and a deed was signed stipulating that the
trademark for Glenlivet stood, and only Smith’s whisky could call itself ‘The
Glenlivet’. The Smiths and Usher didn’t, however, succeed in banning other
distillers from using the word.
Rather, they agreed to
drop all charges against the other distillers and not prevent the use of the
term by 10 distilleries: Glenlossie, Macallan, Aberlour, Benrinnes,
Cragganmore, Linkwood, Glenrothes, Glen Grant, Mortlach and Glenfarclas,
providing that ‘Glenlivet’ was only used as a suffix, in conjunction with the
distillery name. At some point, it became common practise for the ‘Glenlivet’
part of the name to be joined to the distillery name by a hyphen.
By the 1980s, 28 distilleries were either registered as being ‘X-Glenlivet’ or using the term as a trademark, or on their labels. It’s only in recent years that Macallan, for example, has dropped the suffix.
The majority of the
trademarks are now dead, and most of the distilleries are now registered under
their own names. Some, however, have retained the suffix. Tamnavulin, Glen
Moray, Speyburn and Tomintoul all still carry -Glenlivet in their registered
name. The suffix is now only used on the labels of some independent bottlers.
