The distillery takes its name from the original Speyside Distillery in Kingussie which started in 1895 and only produced until 1905. It was demolished in 1911.
Speyside Distillery was built following one man's dream to have his own malt whisky distillery. George Christie, a well known merchant, chose the tranquil spot at Tromie Mills, below the small village of Drumguish and three miles from Kingussie to build his dream. George Christie commissioned Alex Fairlie, a dry stane dyker, to build the distillery. Alex single-handedly laid all the stonework over a period of nearly 20 years and the distillery started production on the 3rd of December in 1990. The old mill and water wheel were retained from the original distillery and are still in working order.
The distillery is not a large production plant, being equipped with a four tonne GlenSpey mash tonne, four 20,000 litre wash backs, a 13,000 litre wash still and a 7,000 litre spirit still, both stills being made by Forsyth's of Rothes, mass production never being one of Mr Christie's objectives.
The distillery draws its water from the old mill lade which originally ran the waterwheel that powered the old mill that gives the site its name.