Which company owns the Scotch whisky brand Ballantine’s?

Pernod Ricard owns the Scotch whisky brand Ballantine’s. Ballantine’s is a blended Scotch whisky brand with roots in George Ballantine’s grocery and whisky business in Edinburgh.

George Ballantine opened a grocery shop in 1827 and later became involved in wine and spirits. The brand developed through blending and international distribution, eventually becoming one of the major Scotch whisky names. Its best-known expression is Ballantine’s Finest, a blended Scotch whisky.

Pernod Ricard acquired the brand through its purchase of Allied Domecq in 2005. This ownership places Ballantine’s in the same broad corporate portfolio as other international spirits brands, although its production and identity remain Scottish.

Ballantine’s is a blend, meaning it combines malt whisky and grain whisky from multiple distilleries. That differs from a single malt, which must come from one distillery and be made from malted barley. The brand’s ownership is therefore a corporate fact, not a description of its whisky category.