Glentauchers started with the joint venture of James Buchanan and WP Lowrie of Glasgow, a key stockholder who supplied Buchanan from the beginning. The first foundation stone was laid on the 29th May 1897, in one of the fields at Tauchers Farm.

In considering the place to build the new distillery a key factor was the accessible road and rail network already in existence. The road sits directly at the front of the distillery and the construction of a siding from the railway line at the back of the site enabled transportation of goods and supplies to flow freely.

Buchanan was so successful with his blends, that he became one of the three most important characters in the whisky world, together with Dewar and Walkers. The Buchanan and Dewar groups merged in 1910 and shortly after, the group became part of DCL which would become UDV in 1987. Glentauchers was closed between 1985 and 1989, while the reopening was the consequence of the acquisition of the distillery by Allied Distillers (now part of Pernod Ricard).

Glentauchers forms a part in the blends Black & White and Ballantine's. Nearly all of the production is used for blending purposes, with a rare, special distillery edition in 2000, being one of the most recent official expressions.