Glenlivet Whisky
Glenlivet Speyside WhiskyHistorie:The Glenlivet er historien om lidenskab, rebelskhed og pionerånd. I begyndelse af 1800 tallet fandtes der omkring 200 destillerier i området Glenlivet. Den daværende konge, King George IV, indførte, at alle destillerier skulle betale skat af produktionen til kongehuset. Dette skabe en del opgør blandt de skotske bønner, som foruden landbrug, destillerede whisky til eget forbrug samt til salg, hvis produktionen var stor nok. King George havde allerede på det tidspunkt fået en præference for The Glenlivet og som det første destilleri var grundlæggeren, George Smith, derfor tvunget til at søge om en lisens til at destillere whisky. George Smith fik sin licens til The Glenlivet i 1824 og samtidig ret på, at kun én "scotch" havde ret til at hedde THE Glenlivet. Dette var til stor irritation for de andre destillerier, som nægtede at betale skat til kongen og de erklærede derfor krig til kongen og George Smith. I 1834 havde kavaleriet fordrevet alle illegale destillerier ud af Glenlivet, hvilket medførte at George Smith var den eneste destillatør, der var tilbage i området. Fremstilling: Processen bag fremstillingen af en 12 års single malt er nogen lunde ens for alle destillerier. Det der kan gøre en forskel er kvaliteten af de fire ingredienser - byg, vand, gær og sjæl – som en single malt består af. Til produktionen af The Glenlivet er der blevet købt byg af de samme bønder i gennem 30 år. Blødheden stammer fra det rene kildevand fra floden Livet, som året rundt holder en temperatur på 5-8° C. Kun to destillerier har i dag adgang til floden i Livet Vally, hvor George Smith begyndte for næsten 200 år siden. Gæren af enestående kvalitet, som ved hjælpe af moderne metoder holdes konstant. Sjælen stammer fra den dygtige master blender, som sikre at The Glenlivet er lige så enestående i dag, som for næsten 200 år siden.  Owner: Region/district: Chivas Brothers Speyside (Pernod Ricard) Founded: Status: Capacity: 1824 Active (vc) 10 500 000 litres Address: Ballindalloch, Banffshire AB37 9DB Tel: website: 01340 821720 (vc) www.theglenlivet.com History: 1817 – George Smith inherits the farm distillery Upper Drummin from his father Andrew Smith who has been distilling on the site since 1774. 1840 – George Smith buys Delnabo farm near Tomintoul and leases Cairngorm Distillery. His son William takes over operations at Upper Drummin. 1845 – George Smith leases three other farms, one of which is situated on the river Livet and is called Minmore. 1846 – William Smith develops tuberculosis and his brother John Gordon moves back home to assist his father. Sales of Smith’s Glenlivet increases steadily and neither Upper Drummin nor Cairngorm Distillery can meet demand. 1858 – George Smith buys Minmore farm, which he has leased for some time, and obtains permission from the Duke of Gordon to build a distillery. 1859 – Upper Drummin and Cairngorm close and all equipment is brought to Minmore which is renamed The Glenlivet Distillery. 1864 – George Smith cooperates with the whisky agent Andrew P. Usher and exports the whisky with great success. 1871 – George Smith dies and his son John Gordon takes over. 1880 – John Gordon Smith applies for and is granted sole rights to the name The Glenlivet. All distilleries wishing to use Glenlivet in their names must from now hyphenate it with their brand names. 1890 – A fire breaks out and some of the buildings are replaced. 1896 – Another two stills are installed. 1901 – John Gordon Smith dies. 1904 – John Gordon’s nephew George Smith Grant takes over. 1921 – Captain Bill Smith Grant, son of George Smith Grant, takes over. 1953 – George & J. G. Smith Ltd merges with J. & J. Grant of Glen Grant Distillery and forms the company Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distillers. 1966 – Floor maltings closes. 1970 – Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distillers Ltd merges with Longmorn-Glenlivet Distilleries Ltd and Hill Thomson & Co. Ltd to form The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. 1978 – Seagrams buys The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. A visitor centre opens. 1996/97 – The visitor centre is expanded, and a multimedia facility installed. 2000 – French Oak 12 years and American Oak 12 years are launched 2001 – Pernod Ricard and Diageo buy Seagram Spirits & Wine. Pernod Ricard thereby gains control of the Chivas group. 2004 – This year sees a lavish relaunch of Glenlivet. French Oak 15 years replaces the previous 12 year old. 2005 – Two new duty-free versions are introduced – The Glenlivet 12 year old First Fill and Nadurra. The 1972 Cellar Collection (2,015 bottles) is launched. 2006 – Nadurra 16 year old cask strength and 1969 Cellar Collection are released. Glenlivet sells more than 500,000 cases for the first time in one year. 2007 – Glenlivet XXV is released. 2009 – Four more stills are installed and the capacity increases to 8.5 million litres. Nadurra Triumph 1991 is released. 2010 – Another two stills are commissioned and capacity increases to 10.5 million litres. Glenlivet Founder´s Reserve is released. 2011 – Glenlivet Master Distiller´s Reserve is released for the duty free market. Ovennævnte tekst er fra Malt Whisky Year Book. Tak til Ingvar Ronde, forfatter til Malt Whisky Year Book 2012 - Køb den fulde udgave her for 149,- kr.  |
