In the summer of 1886, William Grant set out to fulfill a lifelong ambition of creating the 'best dram in the valley'. With the help of his seven sons and two daughters, he built his distillery by hand. On Christmas Day 1887, the first drop of spirit flowed from the copper stills. He named it Glenfiddich, Gaelic for 'Valley of the Deer'.

Glenfiddich remains one of the few single malt distilleries to remain entirely family owned. This independence allows them to retain complete control over the production process. They are the only Scotch whisky distillery to use a single source of natural spring water, the Robbie Dhu springs, for every stage of production.