The stretch of land in the Northern Highland on which Glenmorangie stands has been the site for alcohol production (mostly illicit) since the Middle Ages, setting a formidable legacy. Glenmorangie was founded in 1843, although operation didn’t start until 1849. The founders were the brothers John and William Mathesen who had a history in whisky production. Production got off to a successful start, and in 1887, the Glenmorangie Distillery Company Limited was founded. In 1880, exportation commenced at the distillery, which went extremely successfully. In 1918, 40% of the distillery was sold to the Glenmorangie Distillery Company Limited’s largest customer, Macdonald and Muir, and 60% was sold to Durham, a whisky dealing company. Production continued successfully under its new ownership, with Macdonald eventually taking complete control of the distillery. In 1931, due to the great pressure that the global financial depression and American Prohibition act put on the whisky industry, the distillery was forced to close. After being mothballed for five years, the distillery was reopened in 1936, with production resuming immediately.

Production continued to go on to acclaim and financial gain, and in 1980, the number of stills was doubled to four in order to handle the increase in demand. Ten years later, the number of stills was doubled again, this time to a total of eight stills. In 1994, a visitor’s centre was opened at the site, and the Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish was released, which marked the beginning of a new era of wood finishes being released from the distillery. In 1997, a museum was opened at the site, dedicated to the history of Glenmorangie and single malt production. In 2004, the Macdonald family decided to sell Glenmorangie, as well as the other distilleries that they owned, including Arberg which comprised 'Glenmorangie plc'. The bidding war over the company was absolutely frantic, with Moet Hennessey emerging triumphantly. Moet Hennessy launched a complete re-vamp of the Glenmorangie brand, discontinuing the 15 and 30-year-old bottlings, and totally re-naming the other bottlings. Glenmorangie has continued to go from strength to strength under Moet Hennessey which are owned jointly by Diageo (34%) and LVMH (Louis Vuitton), having managed to scale up its production to a truly competitive level without undermining the quality of the single malt.