Geo. Ballantine & Son

GEO. BALLANTINE & SON, Wine Merchants, 100, Union Street, Glasgow. Bonded Stores — Granton, near Edinburgh ; and Maxwell Street, Glasgow. Telegraphic Address —“George, Glasgow.”

    Few names are more familiar among the representatives of the British wine trade than that of Messrs. Geo. Ballantine & Son, of Glasgow and Edinburgh, the largest importers of wines and spirits in the Scottish trade capital, and probably also one of the first among the premier wine houses of the United Kingdom. The estimation which this firm’s products command throughout the breadth and length of this country must be at all times accepted as the true and proper measure of their established renown and as a house in which there are characterised the best traditions of the wine trade during half-a-century. Messrs. Ballantine maintain a commercial standing and prestige of which no development of modern trade competition can dispossess them. To Messrs. Ballantine rich and poor are alike indebted for many of the trading systems which have simplified and cheapened the acquisition of pure liquors at prices far beneath those that formerly rendered genuine high-class wines and spirits prohibitive.

    In no branch of their comprehensive mercantile operations has this fact been more strikingly illustrated than in the buying of clarets, which, for over twenty years, have constituted a leading feature of their business. With facilities of import only attainable by the existence of commercial fore-sight and capital not open to many firms, Messrs. Ballantine have, from first to last, taken a bold initiative in this direction, stopping short of no enterprise likely to prove profitable to their constituents and frequently securing the entire produce of an estate or vineyard on the most favourable terms. In Glasgow they hold a stock of these wines estimated at some 10,000 dozens, and of these exquisite dinner wines the greatest quantity arriving in the metropolis passes through their hands. No house in the trade has ever superseded the firm of Messrs. Ballantine in this one direction, and the special list of clarets and champagnes issued by the firm affords an insight into the varieties of a wine collection that exhausts the entire gamut of production from the most inexpensive “Medoc” to the richest and most magnificent brand of “Chateau Lafite” at 120/- per dozen. The accretion of prices from 50/- to more than twice that sum represents a corresponding degree or excellence and merit thoroughly appreciable by connoisseurs as well as by the less cultured palate. To those who can afford so plutocratic a price as half-a-sovereign per bottle for the genuine port wines of other days, the firm’s 1847 vintage will present quite a revelation, and the entire specialties of this house may be confidently set forth as exemplary of those rare excellences and characteristics which epicures are invariably disposed to regard as the criterion of all good and favoured wines.

    Consistently with Messrs. Ballantine’s position as a representative Scottish house, they have cultivated a high reputation as blenders of fine old Highland whisky, representing various selected distillations blended before maturing in sherry wood. An aggregate of from ten to twenty thousand gallons is frequently comprised in the firm’s bonded stocks, and the system of amalgamation observed by the firm has long ensured that uniformity which, next to the rich and meritorious qualifications of the spirit itself, is its principal feature.

    Dutch Gin is another of the firm’s specialities. This gin is specially distilled in Schiedam for, and can only be obtained from, Messrs. Ballantine, being made from the finest ingredients ; and possessing the real Schiedam flavour, it is not only more palatable than what is usually to be obtained, but will be found more beneficial when required for medicinal purposes. As Cigar Merchants Messrs. Ballantine have led the way in the supply of high-class cigars at a reasonable price.

    Until 1870 Edinburgh was the only centre of the firm’s business, being that in which it was first inaugurated over sixty years ago by Mr. Geo. Ballantine, Sen., who remained at the head of its affairs until shortly before his death in 1891. The business is now controlled by his two sons, Messrs. George & Archibald Ballantine, the latter of whom directs more particular attention to the management of the Edinburgh establishment (situated at the North Bridge), while the Glasgow business is in the hands of Mr. George Ballantine. The premises, situated in Union Street, are a very imposing feature of that thoroughfare, presenting a magnificent window frontage and being arranged and appointed on a degree of refinement and taste appropriate to the high character of the business. The abundant resources of the house are fully represented in the repleteness of the stores and wine vaults, and everything is here preserved under splendid conditions. From Granton, and from Maxwell Street, Glasgow, the firm command a large wholesale and export trade, and, while operating as wholesale merchants primarily, they transact an immense trade in supplying wines and spirits to families of distinction all over Scotland and many parts of England and Ireland. The unwavering support of a large clientele at home and abroad constitutes an unimpeachable testimony alike to the merits of their goods and the liberality, courtesy, and attentiveness with which these continue to be purveyed. Messrs. Ballantine have not only gained steadily in mercantile renown but have also, as gentlemen of ability and integrity, proved themselves worthy of the confidence and respect of all social circles, among whom both partners are personally well known; and in Glasgow, where the firm’s name is indelibly associated with all that is honourable in commerce and trade, Mr. George Ballantine has ably and creditably sustained the interests of the house under those principles instituted by his late esteemed father, and which have not been permitted to suffer any infraction.

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