The Lochside distillery has been established by the Macnab distillers company on the site of an old brewery (James Deuchars) located in the town of Montrose in 1957. The distillery was producing malt and grain whisky up to the early 1970's.
The distillery was sold to the Spanish group Domecq who immediately stopped the grain whisky production. The company Allied Lyons bought the distillery in 1994, and it was mothballed soon after this. The distillery has been demolished in 2005.

Very few single malt bottlings had been released, mostly originating from independent bottlers. Lochside single malt is indeed very hard to find.

Described by Murray McDavid as the Springbank of the East, its style is fruity, delicate and fragrant, which makes it ideal as aperitif.