Established in 1897 in a converted flax mill on the banks of the South Esk River, it was named Highland Esk. In 1897 it became North Esk, between 1938 and 1964 it was called Montrose, then Hillside (1964), and finally 'Glenesk' in 1980. The conversion of the flax mill into a distillery was completed by James Alec and Septimus Parsonage & Company. Alec was a wine merchant from Dundee. They only lasted two years before being taken over. The distillery was closed during the First World War and did not reopen until 1938, when it was purchased by Joseph Hobbs of National Distillers of America (see 'Ben Nevis'). A continuous still was then installed and it was converted into a grain distillery. After being acquired by D.C.L. in 1954, the distillery still intermittently distilled grain whisky, and in 1964 it resumed malt whisky distillation. In 1968, a drum malting machine was installed next to the distillery, expanding to 24 drums in 1973. The distillery is located in Montrose on the edge of the fertile Mearns area, which is famous for barley production. The maltings were acquired by Pauls Malt Ltd in 1996 and are now owned by Greencore, the world's sixth largest malt producer. The distillery was closed in 1985, but the distilling license was not revoked until 1992. All distilling equipment has been dismantled.

"Esker" derives from "uisge," the Gaelic word for "water." During the D.C.L. management period, Glen Esker was authorized for William Sanderson & Sons to supply base spirit for VAT 69 blended whisky.