J & B Rare Blended Scotch Whisky Review

Whisky is full of tropes and misinformation – one such piece of misinformation that you find commonly told is that the first commercially available single malt was Glenfiddich in 1963. 

Dig a little deeper though and you will find in the 19th century single malts were very much en vogue. Royal Brackla was heavily advertised in English newspapers, Islay whisky from Port Ellen and Ardbeg was readily available in the US in the 1890’s and there was even a chain of bars in Scotland and London known as ‘The Clachan’ owned by Edinburgh man John Stewart where you could sample scotch whisky from the likes of Talisker and Glen Grant.

Single malt though was rather niche, as it is today. 

Two things happened in the 19th century that would push whisky mainstream. In 1831 Aeneas Coffey patented the continuous still for the cheap production of grain whisky and in 1860 the Spirits Act allowed for malt and grain whiskies from the Coffey stills to be vatted under bond for the first time. Whisky could now be made cheaply and for mass consumption.

Enter the grocers or ‘Italian warehousemen’ as the upscale one liked to call themselves. Men such as the Chivas Brothers in Aberdeen, John Walker in Kilmarnock, John Dewar of Perth and William Teacher of Glasgow to name a few created world famous brands from this legislation.

Today, Blended whisky is often looked down upon within whisky circles even though it is likely that a blended whisky was the first stop on our whisky exploration. I know personally that I used to buy Bell’s and Teachers as my first foray into the world of Scotch. 

Justerini & Johnson first came into being in 1749 when Giacomo Justerini and George Johnson start a wine and spirits business in London. In 1760 Johnson assumes full control of the company but his family sell the business in 1831 to Alfred Brooks who changes the name to Justerini and Brooks and by 1884 the J&B Club Scotch whisky is born. 

After a trip to Prohibition America on 1930 the director of J&B creates the J&B Rare specifically for that market and it arrives in the US in 1936.

Heavily marketed in Italian tv and film in the 1960’s, J&B Rare was also featured in movies like The Thing and TV shows like the Soprano’s, but it pretty had pretty much disappeared from UK shelves by the early 2000’s. Seeing it on shelves here in the US I was intrigued and decided to buy a bottle.

Now in the hands of Diageo, J&B Rare is a blend of 42 malts and grain whiskies. It has a few mandatory malts which are Mannachmore, Auchroisk, Glen Spey and Strathmill and at least some of the grain comes from Cameronbridge.

Let’s Taste!

J & B Rare Blended Scotch 40%     $19.99  £15 €17.50

Nose: Ethanol and perfume, vanilla, pear drops sweets, custard, a little saltiness and a feint peatiness. After a little time the ethanol turns to paint thinners.

Palate: A little prickly on arrival – tart citrus (grapefruit), pepper, kiwi fruit, astringent oak and solvent.

Finish: Very short with pepper, drying oak and grapefruit juice.

Score: 2 out of 10

Overall: Definitely not something I will buy again. Very spirity and a little rough around the edges with pretty much no flavour development at all. Cheap but definitely not cheerful.

Interestingly The Whisky Wash scored it a 7 out of 10 so make of that what you will!

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