Justerini & Brooks

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Justerini & Brooks Ltd.
IndustryManufacturing and distillation of liquors and wine
Headquarters London, England, UK
ProductsDistilled and blended liquors, wine
Website justerinis.com
J&B Rare
Justerini & Brooks, Scotch Whisky.jpg
Type Scotch Whisky
Manufacturer Diageo
Country of origin  Scotland
Introduced1749
Alcohol by volume  40%
Website www.jbscotch.com

Justerini & Brooks Ltd. (J&B) is a fine wine and spirits merchant founded in St. James's in 1749, originally to provide wine and spirits to the aristocratic households of London. Is mostly known for their J&B Rare Scotch whisky. The firm has been a supplier to every British monarch since the coronation of King George III in 1761. [1] It sells to private collectors, hotels, and restaurants across the United Kingdom. Justerini & Brooks is owned by multinational Diageo. [2]

Contents

History

Justerini and Brooks was founded in 1749 by Giacomo Justerini from Bologna, the son of a distiller, and English investor George Johnson. Together, they founded the wine merchants Johnson & Justerini. In 1760, Justerini returned to his native land after selling the business to Johnson. Johnson continued to grow the business, naming his grandson, Augustus, as a partner, and building relationships with European suppliers from Bordeaux, Cadiz, Mayence, Reims, Genoa, Dijon and Palermo. [3] The firm received its first Royal Warrant from King George III the next year. [4]

Justerini & Brooks crest Justerini & Brooks 20130408 110 - Copy.jpg
Justerini & Brooks crest

In 1831, the Johnson family sold its interest in the business to Alfred Brooks. The firm was renamed Justerini & Brooks and its headquarters were established in Regent's Park. [5] The New York office opened in 1866. [3]

In 1962, the Justerini and Brooks merged with W&A Gilbey to form International Distillers & Vintners. The company was taken over by Grand Metropolitan in 1972. [6]

In 1997, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to create Diageo and International Distillers & Vintners was merged with United Distillers to create United Distillers & Vintners, forming the spirits division of Diageo plc. [7]

Today, the company has four offices: the head office in St James's Street, a further office in London's Golden Square, and sales offices in Edinburgh and Hong Kong. Justerini & Brooks is also the main user of the Octavian Vaults, a giant, thirty-acre high-security cellar in Wiltshire. The company operates three other storage warehouses in Bordeaux, Hong Kong, and in Hertfordshire. [8]

Wine and spirits

Justerini & Brooks are known for their selection of fine wines from Burgundy, Barolo and Germany. [9] They are also known for their J&B Rare Scotch whisky, a blend of forty-two malt and grain whiskies, including single malts Knockando, Auchroisk and Glen Spey. [10]

Throughout the 1970s, J&B whisky bottles cropped up with remarkable regularity in Italian poliziotteschi, commedia sexy all'italiana and particularly giallo films as a signifier of sophistication and virility, probably influenced by the brand's popularity among the Italian American celebrities Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. [11]

J&B scotch is the preferred spirit of R.J. MacReady (portrayed by Kurt Russell), in the 1982 John Carpenter film The Thing , and is shown drinking it on multiple occasions throughout the film.

In the 1987 film Moonstruck , Ronny shares a bottle of J&B scotch with Loretta at his apartment after she asks him for a glass of whiskey. [12]

In the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, the main character Patrick Bateman is a habitual drinker of J&B. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "Justerini & Brooks Ltd | Royal Warrant Holders Association". www.royalwarrant.org. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Brand explorer". Diageo. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Our History". www.justerinis.com. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Justerini and Brooks Whisky". Master of Malt. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Justerini & Brooks - Our Royal Warrants". Justerinis.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  6. ↑ "Gilbey's". www.dcs.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  7. ↑ Competition Commission Report 1983 [usurped]
  8. ↑ Sims, Josh (4 March 2020). "Inside Justerini & Brooks' multi-million pound wine cellar". Luxury London. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  9. ↑ Andrew Ellson, Roll out the riesling, German wines are making a comeback, in: The Times dated 9 December 2019
  10. ↑ Dorling Kindersley Publishing Staff (April 2011). Great Whiskies. Dorling Kindersley Limited. ISBN   9781405360180.
  11. ↑ Mikel J. Koven, La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film, The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006, pages 49-50.
  12. ↑ Sergey. "J&B Scotch Whisky in Moonstruck (1987)". Product Placement Blog. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  13. ↑ Easton Ellis, Bret (1991). American Psycho (1st ed.). New York: Vintage Contemporaries. p. 09/96. ISBN   0-679-73577-1.

51°30′23″N0°08′22″W / 51.5065°N 0.1395°W / 51.5065; -0.1395

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