Grand Old Parr (often simply just Old Parr) is a blended Scotch whisky produced by

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Is named after the

Old Tom Parr Thomas "Old Tom" Parr ( (reputedly) – 13 November 1635) was an Englishman who was said to have lived for 152 years. A portrait of Parr hangs at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery, with an inscription which reads "Thomas Parr died at the age of ...

, the reputed oldest man in England. Launched in 1909, it is found in export markets such as

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

(especially

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

) and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and is no longer distributed in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Old Parr is known for its distinctive dimpled and rounded bottle design. It retails at a premium price, and its competitor brands include Johnnie Walker Black Label and

Chivas Regal Chivas Regal () is a blended Scotch whisky produced by the Chivas Brothers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard in Scotland. History Chivas Regal was created in 1909 by Chivas Brothers Master Blender Charles Stewart Howard as a 25-year-old luxury wh ...

. It also has an 18 year old Whisky bottle.

History

Old Parr was introduced in 1909 by Greenlees Brothers of London and Glasgow. It takes its name from the reputed oldest man in Britain,

. The name emphasised the maturity of the product. The brand was initially successful in London, before finding popularity in export markets. Following a series of mergers, Greenlees became a part of MacDonald Greenlees & Williams. In 1925, the company was acquired by

Distillers Company The Distillers Company plc was a leading Scotch whisky company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over in 1986 by Guinness & Co. and is now part of Diageo. History The Distillers Company origins lie in a trade ...

, which was acquired by

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

, which merged in 1997 to form Diageo.

Blends

Varieties

* Old Parr 12 Year Old (40% ABV) * Old Parr 18 Year Old (40% ABV) * Old Parr Silver (40% ABV) * Old Parr Superior (43% ABV) The original Old Parr Superior was launched in 1989, and was blended in small quantities in Scotland twice a year. Discontinued blends Old Parr Tribute and Old Parr Elizabethan, the latter launched in the mid-1980s, retailed at a higher price than Superior. Old Parr Silver was released in 2013, it is chill-filtered to minus 6 degrees Celsius. In 2014 a new Old Parr Tribute was introduced for the Colombian market. In 2022 Old Parr Old Aged 18 Years was released as a permanent addition to the Old Parr portfolio.

Production

Old Parr is sold in a distinctive dimpled and rounded square bottle, and is packaged in a gold cardboard box. The basis of the blend is

Cragganmore Cragganmore distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery situated in the village of Ballindalloch in Banffshire, Scotland. History The distillery was founded in 1869 by John Smith on land leased from Sir George Macpherson-Grant. The site was ch ...

. Glendullan has been a major component of the blend since World War II. The brand sold over 1 million cases (1 case equals 9

litre The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter ( American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metres (m3). A ...

s) in 2011, putting it among the top twenty highest selling Scotch whisky brands in the world. Old Parr was bottled at Diageos plant in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

before that closed in 2012. Old Parr is now bottled at the Diageo complex in

Leven, Fife Leven (Pictish language, Pictish; ) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, Fife, River Leven, north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and ...

Markets

The brand's highest sales are in the export markets of Japan and South America.Whisk(e)y
/ref> In 2009-2010, the 12 year old held 52 percent of the Scotch market in Colombia. The brand had ceased to be distributed in the United Kingdom by the 1980s.Distillers go with flow as Latin America develops taste for Scotch – The Scotsman
/ref>

Advertising

The image of Thomas Parr painted by

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

is featured on the label of Old Parr. In the 1970s the brand was marketed with the slogan "Make friends with Old Parr".

References

{{Diageo , state=collapsed Diageo brands Blended Scotch whisky Products introduced in 1909