Fragrance house

John Player Special

John Player Special traces its roots to John Player & Sons, a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer founded in Nottingham in 1877 and a founding member of Imperial Tobacco in 1901. Imperial Brands dates the UK launch of John Player Special to 1970. During the 1970s, its public visual identity used black-and-gold livery on motorsport race cars. Imperial later acquired Reemtsma in 2002 and Altadis in 2008, before renaming Imperial Tobacco as Imperial Brands in 2016. The fragrance and grooming use of the name is a separate licensed brand for men’s fragrances and care products. In 2011, Straub GmbH acquired Beauty Brands International and became its majority shareholder; the announced portfolio included John Player Special among the Straub brands. Six John Player Special perfumes and colognes are listed as launched in 1984, including an eponymous men’s aromatic-spicy fragrance with woody, musky, spicy and patchouli facets.