Edradour is a quintessential farm distillery. Until 2005 it was the smallest distillery in Scotland, and to this day remains one of the most picturesque. Its very existence serves as a reminder of what 19th-century distilleries looked like and how they operated. The distillery was likely founded by a man named Duncan Forbes in 1825 under the name Glenforres, though the foundations suggest construction in 1837. At that time, a group of farmers rented this land beside the Edradour Burn from the Duke of Atholl, led by James Stewart. Duncan Forbes and five other farmers joined them. After 1841, they were led by John McGlashan until 1877. However, after 1853, the license bore the name of another local farmer, James Reid. In 1885, the distillery passed to one of the founder's sons, John Maitland. He increased production and transformed Edradour into a successful commercial enterprise. Upon his death in 1907, his nephew Peter took over. The latter's father, the founder's brother, had been an excise officer at Oud distillery. This period proved difficult for the whisky industry, and Peter's ill health further hampered operations. From 1920 to 1932, whole cask sales fell from 90 to 21. In early 1933, he sold the distillery and two cottages to William Whiteley for £1,050. Whiteley's subsidiary, J.G. Turney & Sons—once a customer of Edradour—used its spirit for their blended Scotch brands House of Lords and King's Ransom, the latter launched in 1928 and acclaimed as the most expensive whisky of its time. Whiteley retired in 1938, selling the company and distillery to his American agent Irving Haim. Apart from introducing electricity in 1947, Irving left everything unchanged. After his death in 1976, the distillery was briefly owned by a consortium before being purchased by Campbell Distillers (a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard) in 1982. Four years later, Edradour was bottled for the first time as a 10-year-old single malt, while the former malt barn was converted into a visitor centre and shop. In July 2002, Andrew Symington, owner of Signatory Vintage Malt Whisky Company, acquired Edradour for £5.4 million (£3 million of which was for aged stock). Numerous improvements followed, including a bottling hall (2007) and a new large warehouse (2010), together with "Caledonia Hall"—a multi-purpose venue for whisky events. The visitor centre in the old maltings was refurbished in 2011. Edradour is now one of Scotland's most popular distilleries, welcoming around 55,000 visitors annually. Currently, Mr Symington plans to build a new distillery at a nearby site, to be called "Edradour Distillery No. 2". It was originally to be named after a closed 1927 Perthshire distillery—Balach—but this was rejected as the name had already been used for a peated expression of Edradour.

Edradour: William Whiteley (1861-1942) was a tough Yorkshireman and shrewd marketer. He began as a salesman for a wine and spirits company but was dismissed in 1908 for overstepping his authority. In 1914, he acquired another wine and spirits merchant, Tinline & Son, primarily for export. As Prohibition took hold in America, Whiteley appointed Frank Costello as his 'American Sales Consultant' for $5,000 per year. Costello may have been the first to dub Whiteley the 'Dean of Whisky,' a moniker that stuck. Costello was a leader of the Black Hand, known as Capo di tutti Capi ('Boss of All Bosses'), and served as the prototype for Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather.' Described as a 'visionary mobster,' he was a major bootlegger who controlled numerous speakeasies and clubs in New York. Whiteley's operations were managed by his close friend Owen 'Owney' Madden. Upon Whiteley's retirement in 1938, Madden purchased Tinline & Son, an arrangement that persisted until Madden's death in 1976. Edradour ranks as Scotland's fourth most-visited whisky distillery, welcoming approximately 55,000 visitors annually.