The town has several listed 19th century buildings and serves as a regional centre for agriculture, tourism and services.

1012), "Donercius", "Cormauch", and Nechtan, who transferred the see to Aberdeen in April 1132, during the reign of King David I of Scotland.

[4][5][6] Balvenie Castle dates from the 13th century and is the second oldest building in the area, having been restored by John Comyn, Earl of Buchan and existing in use until 1746 when it was abandoned following the Jacobite Rebellion.

[3] Another building of historical significance is the primarily 15th century Castle of Auchindoun, which towers within the earthworks of an earlier prehistoric hill fort.

[3] While there was an earlier hamlet at Laichie and Mortlach, Dufftown as a Burgh was founded in 1817 by James Duff, 4th Earl Fife and was named after him.

[7] The town was established to help develop the Earls estate and provide both housing and employment for soldiers returning home from the Napoleonic War.

The town was planned in the form of a right-angled cross or grid, with the streets running north, south, east and west from a square in the middle.

[3] A public hall was built in 1879 and this became a picture house (cinema) in the 20th century in the 1930s, before closing in the 1970s (the building survives as a restaurant).

[3] Dufftown lies in the centre of a long glen (valley) amid the surrounding hills, which include the granite mountain of Ben Rinnes (841 metres (2,759 ft)) to the southeast.

[11] Dufftown has an oceanic climate typical of Northern Scotland, characterised by relatively mild, damp winters and cool cloudy summers.

This warm ocean current makes Dufftown's climate significantly milder during the winter than expected for its latitude.

This proliferation puts it on the famed Malt Whisky Trail,[16] which also includes Keith, Glen Grant Distillery, Marypark, and Tomintoul.

[41] A Catholic Church, St Mary’s, was built in the town in 1824 by the priest and musician George Gordon on Fife Street.