Founded in 1840 by James Rankine who converted the maltings of the former Camelon Distillery which probably was founded by James Robertson in 1817. In 1864 it was renovated by R Rankine (James's son). In 1894 it became Rosebank Distillers Ltd and in 1914 was a founder member of what became Scottish Malt Distillers. SMD was later acquired by DCL (Distillers) who were subsequently sold to Guinness in a deal that led to the prosecution and imprisonment of senior directors of Guinness. Guinness, known later as UDV and Diageo, closed the distillery in 1993.