The Glen Albyn distillery was built on the site of a former mill in 1846 by James Sutherland, the Provost of Inverness, which was once home to many breweries and maltings. The site was turned back into a flour mill in 1866, before once again becoming a distillery in 1884. The distillery manager, John Birni, left to form a partnership with Leith blender Charles Mackinlay. They built the neighbouring Glen Mhor distillery in 1892 and bought Glen Albyn in 1920. Both distilleries became the property of the Distillers Company Limited (DCL) after it bought Mackinlay & Birnie in 1972. They were both closed in 1983—the truly annus horribilis of the Whisky Loch—and have since been demolished. A few rare official bottlings of Glen Albyn exist from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as in the Rare Malts range and independent bottlings.

A Glen Albyn 20 year old distilled in 1969 and bottled by Signatory Vintage in 1989. Signatory Vintage was founded in 1988 by Andrew Symington, who previously worked at Prestonfield House, Edinburgh, where he would select casks specially for the hotel. In 2002, he bought the Edradour distillery in Pitlochry, in the Highlands of Scotland and moved Signatory Vintage to the site, including the warehouses opposite the distillery. A limited edition of 600 bottles.