Fettercairn is located in the heart of the fertile Mearns region, which was made famous worldwide by the renowned author Lewis Grassic Gibbon (Sunset Song, etc.). The distillery was founded in 1824 by Sir Alexander Ramsay, Laird of Fasque. In 1830, he sold the estate to Sir John Gladstone, father of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. Although managed by tenants, the Gladstones remained involved until 1923 when the distillery was sold to whisky merchants Ross & Coulter (established 1919), later owners of Bladnoch and Bruichladdich distilleries. They mothballed the distillery from 1926 to 1939, then sold it to a subsidiary of National Distillers of America (which eventually became owners of Ben Nevis, Bruichladdich, Lochside, Glenesk, and Glenury Royal). Fettercairn increased its stills from 2 to 4 between 1966 and 1967. In 1971, Fettercairn was acquired by Tomintoul-Glenlivet Distillery Company, which was itself bought two years later by Scottish & Universal Investment Trust, owners of Whyte & Mackay. In 1980, they built a large sewage treatment plant near the distillery. In 2007, Whyte & Mackay was acquired by Indian beer and spirits conglomerate U.B. Group. The spirits division of U.B. Group was bought by Diageo in 2012 and sold to Filipino distilling company Emperador in 2014 (see "Invergordon").

Fettercairn distillery boasts a unique water-cooling system for its spirit stills. Cold water cascades down the necks from a copper ring, flowing into a trough above the shoulders before being drained or recycled into the boiler. Interestingly, each pair of stills has its own spirit safe, labeled Side 1 and Side 2, even though the new make spirit from all stills is combined. Until 2002, the distillery's products were sold under the name 'Old Fettercairn,' after which the core range was rebranded as 'Fettercairn 1824.'