The distillery was founded in 1832 by Steward, Galbraith & Co. under the name Scotia Distillery. She has had a volatile history ever since and has always had phases in which she did not produce for years. As was the case with many other distilleries, the shops ran very well until the end of the 19th century, so another distillery, the Glen Nevis Distillery, had to be bought in order to meet the high demand. In 1919 the distillery was sold to West Highland Malt Distillers Ltd. (W.H.M.D.), which already owned other distilleries of the Kintyre Peninsula. A few years later, the company went bankrupt and all of its distilleries - Glen Scotia, Glengyle, Dalintober, Kinloch and the Ardlussa Distillery - had to be closed. A 1924 attempt by former W.H.M.D member Dancun MacCallun to bring Glen Scotia back to life failed as early as 1928. Eight years later, Bloch Brothers Limited took over the business; they already owned the Scapa Distillery. It was followed by a very successful period, until 1954, the distillery was sold to the famous by the Canadian Club Whiskey Hiram Walker. Just one year later, she changed hands again and was sold to the company A. Gillier & Co, which itself was owned by Amalgamated Distillers Products Ltd. Was taken over in 1970. In the years 1979 to 1982, the distillery was extensively renovated, but 1984 production suspended. Only with the acquisition of the distillery by Gibson International production was resumed in 1989. Also this company finally failed and had to declare bankruptcy in 1994. The bottler Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse bought the bankruptcy estate, consisting of the distillery and the stored whiskey, but did not resume production until 2000. Since 2014, Glen Scotia, together with the Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse and the Loch Lomond distillery, has been part of the Loch Lomond Group.