Ballantine’s, second biggest-selling Scotch whisky brand, was founded in Edinburgh in 1827. Over the years, the brand has expanded globally. It was acquired by Pernod Ricard a decade ago.
Ballantine’s is considered one of the most popular whiskies in the world. Every year the company sells about 70 million bottles of its products. This brand is called the best European scotch, and within the world, it ranks second in this category. And the history of the legendary brand began at the dawn of the 19th century.
The son of a Scottish farmer, George Ballantine was apprenticed to a grocer at the age of 13 and six years later opened a small shop in Edinburgh, selling whisky to his customers. In 1865 George handed over the running of the store to his eldest son and opened a larger store in Glasgow. Another 4 years later Ballantine started blending whisky to his recipe and soon there were several of his distilleries in different parts of Scotland.
Today, around 200 thousand bottles of Ballantine Finest scotch are sold every day. In 2015, it was named the best-selling blended whisky in Europe and took second place on the international market. The reason for this is the quality of the drink – it has remained consistently high since the brand’s inception. Besides, Ballantine’s whisky has received about 130 awards at international competitions in the last decade alone.
The history of the famous brand is not without interesting facts. Since the times of the old distillery in Dumbarton, a strange tradition has been preserved. The warehouse with barrels of maturing whisky is guarded not by dogs, but by geese. It is these birds that are the unofficial emblem of the company.
The Ballantine’s logo is an example of a classic wordmark. The text has adopted a condensed and modern typeface, which is Interstate.
The color scheme of the logo is cream and blue. There are also options of white gold logo on a blue background for a more premium finish. The main colors of the brand are Pantone 289C and Pantone 482 C.
Another important detail of the label is a red circle with a letter B – Ballantine’s signifier. The “B” signifier has been created to look more complete – as a “hallmark” in precious goods. It’s a stylish and elegant icon which the world recognizes as indisputably Ballantine’s.