Lagavulin is owned by Diageo, a multinational beverage alcohol company headquartered in London. The name Lagavulin is an anglicisation of Lag a’ Mhuilinn, the Scottish Gaelic for hollow of the mill.

The distillery of Lagavulin officially dates from 1816, when John Johnston and Archibald Campbell Brooks constructed two distilleries on the site. One of them became Lagavulin, taking over the other—which one is not exactly known. Records show illicit distillation in at least ten illegal distilleries on the site as far back as 1742, however.

The distillery was run by John Johnston until 1835 at which point the distillery had a valuation of £1,103 9s 8d. (equivalent to £137,300 in 2023). It was taken over by Alexander Graham who installed his son Walter Graham as the distiller. Walter ran it until 1848 when he moved to Laphroaig and presumably his brother John Crawford Graham took charge. In 1849 improvements were carried out to extend the buildings and provide new roads and access. Later John Crawford Graham entered into a partnership with James Logan Mackie. John Crowford had other business interested in Glasgow and gradually lessened his direct influence over the distillery which left James Logan Mackie in charge from 1856. In 1878 Peter Mackie joined his uncle’s firm and in the mid-1880s, they established Mackie & Co. to market Lagavulin and other whiskies in London and further afield. Several legal battles ensued with their neighbour Laphraoig, brought about after the distiller at Lagavulin, Peter Mackie, leased the Laphroaig distillery. It is said that Mackie attempted to copy Laphroaig’s style. Since the water and peat at Lagavulin’s premises was different from that at Laphroaig’s, the result did not match. Peter Mackie took over as sole partner in 1889. In 1895 the two businesses amalgamated as Mackie & Co (Distillers) and began to blend White Horse using whisky from Lagavulin. In 1895, Mackie’s became a limited company. Peter was in charge until 1902 by which time he was in partnership with Andrew Hair Holm. The partnership held a lease of Lagavulin for £800 per year for 50 years.

The White Horse brand became well-known for its quality and won many awards. In 1908 Mackie and Co were honoured by Royal Warrant Appointment as purveyors of White Horse whisky to King Edward VII.

In the early 1920s the distillery was sold off by Iain Ramsay to Peter Mackie for £16,000 (equivalent to £811,800 in 2023). In 1923 the firm was acquired by Buchanan Dewar Ltd who continued with the White Horse Brand The company joined Distillers Company in 1925, which was acquired by Guinness in 1986, and Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo in 1997.

Lagavulin is known for its producer’s use of a slow distillation speed and pear shaped pot stills. The two wash stills have a capacity of 11,000 litres (2,400 imp gal; 2,900 US gal) and the two spirit stills of 12,500 litres (2,700 imp gal; 3,300 US gal) each.