The Glenlivet By recreating the illicit still (sma’ still) of the past and the treacherous smuggling trails that were used to avoid the excise man, we helped to illustrate The Glenlivet’s rich smuggling past and the emergence of the first legal Glenlivet Distillery. George Smith, who founded the distillery, legitimately continued making the world famous whisky he’d been furtively distilling for years.