Since 1982, Glenmorangie has been the best-selling single malt whisky in Scotland, ranking second in UK sales and fourth globally. The creative advertising campaign in the early 1980s was likely the biggest driver. The distillery is located near the ancient Royal Burgh of Tain in Ross-shire, overlooking the Morangie Farm—one of the gathering places for illegal distillers. William Matheson and John Matheson founded the distillery in 1843. The former was a shareholder of Balblair Distillery and closely related to Alexander Matheson, who founded Dalmore (see "Dalmore"). In 1849, production had already reached 20,000 gallons (approximately 90,900 liters). In 1887, a limited company was established, and the distillery was completely rebuilt that same year. In 1918, Glenmorangie sold 40% of its shares to Macdonald & Muir, a blending whisky merchant from Leith. The remaining 60% was acquired by Durham & Company, a whisky agency. In the late 1930s, Macdonald & Muir purchased Durham's shares, and Glenmorangie's single malt was used in their blends, particularly Highland Queen and Martins V.V.O. Although available as a single malt, Glenmorangie was not sold as such until the late 1970s. In 1979, production doubled to four stills; it doubled again in 1990. By the mid-1980s, Macdonald & Muir experimented with enriching the product line by using different types of wood and re-casking whisky into wine casks. Glenmorangie's light style was not well-suited to maturation solely in European oak casks, but finishing in such casks brought additional surprises. An 18-year-old sherry cask-finished product was launched in 1992, followed by a Madeira cask finish and over a dozen other wood finishes. In 1996, Glenmorangie became a publicly listed company. In 2004, it acquired the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, the Macdonald family sold their shares, and Glenmorangie and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society were acquired by the French luxury giant LVMH Group. In October 2008, by adding four stills, four fermentation tanks, and one mash tun, the distillery's capacity increased to six million liters of pure alcohol.

Glenmorangie pioneered the use of steam coil indirect heating for its stills in 1883. The distillery is home to Scotland's tallest stills—'as tall as a giraffe'—originally used for gin distillation, preserving their elegant silhouette. While Glenmorangie was exported overseas (to the Vatican and San Francisco) as early as 1880, the owners didn't focus exclusively on malt whisky until the late 1970s. In 1981, 'The Sixteen Men of Tain' print campaign launched, emphasizing the pure craftsmanship of malt whisky production while personalizing the brand through woodcut portraits of everyone from the distillery manager to the tractor driver. This forward-thinking campaign ran for 20 years. In 2004, Glenmorangie and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society were acquired by LVMH. In 2007, Glenmorangie unveiled redesigned packaging for its core range, replacing the 1970s-era black and red fonts with square-framed sepia labels for cleaner, brighter, more sophisticated designs, though some historic elements remained. The bottle shape became more sensual, creating a more feminine impression. Near the distillery, Glenmorangie owns a meticulously restored mansion called 'The House of Glenmorangie,' adjacent to the significant Pictish Cadboll Stone. The new packaging incorporated Celtic symbols from the stone to great effect.