Founded in London in 1857, W&A Gilbey expanded to Dublin by 1861, where it became customary for distilleries to sell their distillate to wine merchants or "bonders". By the 1870s, Gilbey's had over 300,000 gallons of whiskey from Dublin distilleries in stock and began selling whiskey under its own labels after aging it for at least six years in its own sherry casks. In 1903, a whiskey similar to subsequent bottlings of Redbreast was marketed under the name John Jameson & Sons Castle "JJ Liqueur" Whiskey 12 Year Old. While likely a forerunner of Redbreast, the whiskey was not officially referred to as such until 1912 when Gilbey's announced the sale of "Redbreast" J.J. Liqueur Whiskey 12 Year Old. The name was inspired by the chairman's nickname for one of the whiskeys, in reference to the Robin Redbreast bird.

Irish Distillers' decision to phase out the supply of bonded whiskey to merchants such as Gilbey's in 1968 threatened the future of the Redbreast brand. However, following pleas from Gilbey's, Irish Distillers agreed to continue to supply distillate for the production of Redbreast. In 1971, Irish Distillers consolidated production at the New Midleton Distillery in County Cork, resulting in the relocation of Redbreast whiskey production from Dublin to Cork. Gilbey's ceased production of Redbreast in 1985 and sold the brand to Irish Distillers in 1986. After several years of absence from the market, the brand was relaunched in 1991 as a standalone 12 year old whiskey, and has since been released in other variants, including 15 year old and 21 year old.