The original Glenlivet distillery was founded by George Smith in 1824 and is the only distillery allowed to call itself "The Glenlivet". The present Glenlivet distillery was built in 1858 and the legal right to the name "The Glenlivet" was granted in 1880. The Glenlivet merged with Glen Grant (The Glenlivet and Glen Grant Distilleries Ltd) in 1953 and was then taken over by Seagram in 1977.