Glenfiddich was an early advocate of the single malt Scotch category, and their faith is rewarded today by being one of the best-selling Scotch brands in the world. The distillery was built by William Grant in 1886, distilling its first spirit on Christmas day the following year. Today it is still part of the family-owned, William Grant & Sons. They became the first distillery to actively market their single malt brand in 1963, and were the first to open their facility to visitors. Glenfiddich was an important trailblazer in the whisky industry, who's contribution cannot be forgotten. The scale of their operation today is a testament to this.

The 12 year old age-statement was introduced to the core range in 2000, replacing the non-age statement of the Special Reserve. It continued to be presented in the iconic triangular bottle, designed for the company in 1956 and first used for the Glenfiddich brand in 1961. Interestingly, despite being the world's first single malt brand, this was the first time the flagship product was solely referred to as such, with previous iterations always labelled as Pure Malt. This version of the 12 year old, now referred to as the Signature Malt was released in 2007 and was presented in this packaging until the distillery's rebrand in 2014.