The distillery was founded as Ledaig distillery in 1798 by John Sinclair. Sinclair had originally arrived in the village as a merchant dealing with soda ash from burning the locally available kelp. In April 1797, he applied for 57 acres to the south of the harbour in order to build houses and a distillery. Distilling had been banned in the UK since 1795 in order to save grain for the War of the First Coalition with France. Although he was originally told to build a brewery instead, he remained with the original plan and additionally built a pier known as "Sinclair's Quay".
In 1972 it was reopened under the name of Ledaig Distillery. In May 1975, production had to stop for a month as storage space for the whisky had run out. This was followed by the distillery opening and reopening over the years and changing owners.
It remains the only whisky distillery on the Isle of Mull, in the main village of Tobermory at the northern tip of the island.
