It was founded by two brothers, John and Thomas McClelland who took out a license in 1817 to make whisky in their farm.

As a family business the distillery thrived and expanded until 1905, when it had to close. Several owners in the future would attempt to resume production: Dunville & Co bought the distillery in 1911 and had it operating until 1937.

The site was closed again and new owner, Ross & Coulter sold off all the stock and the equipment of the distillery.

It reopened in 1956 and after a series of changes in the ownership status again, it was bought by Arthur Bell & Son in 1983.

The production would remain on short levels until finally in 2015 David Prior announced the purchase of the distillery that during its peak back in 1850, it would be called “The Queen of the Lowlands”

Being fully operative since 2017 and using the Bladnoch river as water source, the distillery can reach a capacity of 1.5 million liters per year.