Dalwhinnie distillery was founded in 1897. The cost of building the distillery was just 10000 pounds back then. The distillery went through important refurbishment works and changes of ownership until 1919 when its was acquired by Macdonald Greenlees and Williams Ltd. This company became part of Distillery Company Limited (DCL) in 1926. When the distillery was sold to an American company in 1905, it became the first Scottish distillery to be owned by a foreign entity.
From 1926, under its new ownership, the distillery operated without major incidents. In 1934 Dalwhinnie was destroyed by a fire. The distillery was refurbished and reopened in 1938. It continued operations almost uninterrupted until 1986. Eighteen years after the malting floors at the distillery were decommissioned (1968) it went through another refurbishment. In 1988 its whisky was released as part of the Classic Malts Collection. Dalwhinnie is one of the distilleries located at the highest elevation in Scotland.
The style of the distillery is influenced by its usage of a long fermentation period, clear wort, very lightly peated barley and worm tubs. This rich and full bodied spirit takes some 15 years to age when kept at warehouses close to the distillery given the constant low temperature.