Distillery
Ballantines
It began in Scotland in 1827. A farmer's son named George Ballantine opened a small grocery shop in Edinburgh and started supplying whisky to his customers. That side business grew into one of the best-known blended Scotch whisky names in the world, and the brand still carries his name today. Ballantines is a blend rather than a single malt. The recipe draws on around 50 single malts and four single grain whiskies from across Scotland. Two Speyside distilleries, Miltonduff and Glenburgie, sit at the heart of it and give the blend its smooth, gentle backbone. The quality earned royal approval early on. In 1895 the firm received a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria, a rare endorsement for a whisky house. Now owned by Chivas Brothers, part of Pernod Ricard, Ballantines remains one of the biggest-selling Scotch whiskies on the planet.
