I'm directing this question to you for obvious reasons, but anyone should feel free to respond.

Why do many of the nice scotch, whiskies, etc have "The" before the name?  Eg: The Macallan, The Balvenie, The Glenmorangie, The Glenlivit, etc.

Sounds silly, but I'm just wondering and am to lazy to work it out on my own.

Thanks,
Chimborazo

Generally use of the definitive article "the" implies original ownership rights to that name once commonly used in the region from which the scotch was produced or it designates the product to be distributed as a strictly unblended product.

For example, in "The Glenlivet" the definitive article is only used on official bottlings from the first company granted rights to operate a distillery on the Livet Glen.

Prior to laws enacted in the early 1800s, there were hundreds of  distilleries operating in that region, all named with various derivatives of  "glenlivet".

In other cases, various stills would produce and distribute some of their products intending them to be used in a blended scotch.

In the case of "The Macallan" the definitive article "the" designates that product was exclusively produced to be a single malt scotch of highest quality, NOT for blending.


Hope this helps. [beer]

Thanks, and I edited to the topic title to spell "Macallan" correctly.[:I]

Cheers!
[beer]

Of course, most connoisseurs of single malt scotches realize that "The Glenlivit," e.g., eventually becomes "The Piss," which is rightfully just "A Piss," so the distinction is only fleeting. [;)]