Like many other distilleries, Glen Ord in Ross-shire was built on land that once belonged to illicit distillers (with over 40 illegal stills at the time). It is known for whisky production near Findhorn and the Black Isle. The museum displays several illegal stills recovered from nearby lochs. In addition to these illicit distillers, the area had nine licensed distilleries, one operated by a local farmers' cooperative. The New Statistical Account (1840) noted that "the distilling of spirits is the only manufacturing establishment in the district." Glen Ord Distillery was founded in 1838 by landowner Thomas Mackenzie, licensed to Robert Johnstone and Donald McLennan. Johnstone went bankrupt in 1843, and his successor Alexander McLennan suffered the same fate. In 1870, when Alexander McLennan died, the distillery passed to his widow, who prudently married banker Alexander Mackenzie. In 1878, Alexander built a new still house, which burned down the same year, so he rebuilt another. After his death in 1896, ownership transferred to James Watson & Company of Dundee. In 1901, the new owners expanded the distillery and doubled production. The last Watson family member, John Japp, died in 1923, after which Glen Ord was sold to John Dewar & Sons, transferred to D.C.L. in 1925, and placed under S.M.D. management in 1930. Floor malting ceased in 1961, replaced by Saladin boxes. In 1968, the distillery built a large drum malting machine nearby. In 1966, the distillery was rebuilt and expanded in the brand-new "Coffey Street" style (see Caol Ila, Glendullan, etc.) planned by S.M.D. chief engineer Dr. Charlie Begg. The visitor center opened in 1988 and now receives about 20,000 visitors annually. Between 2010-2011, the distillery installed a new mash tun and added 2 fermentation tanks. Between 2014-2015, Diageo invested £25 million to double Glen Ord's capacity. The distillery installed 8 new stills in the building where Saladin boxes were originally placed, and 12 wooden washbacks in the former kiln and malt storage room. Current capacity reaches 11 million liters of pure alcohol, making Glen Ord one of Scotland's five largest malt whisky distilleries.

Glen Ord distillery itself possessed substantial malting facilities (Saladin box from 1961 to 1983, with 18 drum maltings added in 1968), meeting its own needs while supplying malt to seven other S.M.D-owned distilleries in northern Scotland. Over the years, the distillery's whisky has been bottled under names including Glenordie, Ord, Glen Oran, Ordie, and Muir of Ord. In 1949, the distillery still used an oil lamp lighting system, with a water wheel as its main power source (until 1961). Ord was S.M.D.'s "main testing ground" for experimenting with still heating methods. Before 1958, all four stills used direct coal firing. In 1958, two stills were converted to direct oil firing, and in 1962 they were modified to indirect steam heating. The distillery always conducted consistency checks on the distillate. In 1966, the plant modified two direct-fired stills while adding two new stills. Hot water from the condensers was fed into the malting equipment, so the condensers always operated in a hot state, with cooling accomplished through horizontally installed "after-coolers." In 2006, The Singleton of Glen Ord was launched in the Asian market. By 2013, this whisky achieved annual sales exceeding 2 million bottles, ranking it among the world's top ten best-selling single malts (calculated together with The Singleton of Dufftown and The Singleton of Glendullan, currently ranking fourth).