Who makes it? Joseph Magnus Distillery & Co.

Mash Bill: ? (not disclosed)

We picked up this bottle of Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend and knew that when we cracked it open we needed to have Monte De León Cigars there with us. This sourced bourbon is finished in Armagnac, Sherry, and Cognac casks. Came on strong at 124 proof with notes of molasses, burnt cherry, coco, and leather. After we sampled this delicious bourbon it was time to have a couple of Monte De León’s own cigars in a non-stop rain storm. All of us were soaked (whiskey and rain) and could not have had a better time. We get into a little history of the bottle, grandparents, how some things changed and how some have stayed the same.

Kris gave it 9

Erik gave it 8.6

How much: This will run you about 150 dollars

In 2007 Jimmy Turner found a bottle of bourbon in a closet while cleaning out his parents home after his mother died. It turned out to be a 122 year old bottle passed down from generation to generation, he gathered experts together and they tried to re-produce it’s contents. They found an 8-year-old bourbon aging in Kentucky that had a strikingly similar profile to the original bottle and all agreed that it needed to be finished in a sherry cask.

Nancy Fraley is the Master Blender at Joseph Magnus finishing the 12 year bourbon in a triple cast process using Oloroso Sherry, Ximenez, and Cognac casks.

After we posted our review Nancy Fraley herself commented on our video:

“Hey there @Whiskey and a Hammock, Magnus Master Blender Nancy Fraley here. Fantastic episode and review, thanks, although I’m sorry it didn’t score into the 9’s! 😉 Just a few FYI’s: the Cigar Blend Bourbon was not a product that was original to the Jos. Magnus distillery that existed between 1892 and 1917. Since I come from a brandy production background (Germain-Robin in CA, started by a 10th generation Cognac maker), I’m deeply influenced by the long tradition of “Cigare” Blend Cognacs, and as such sought out to make a Bourbon that would be an homage to my mentor(s) in the French brandy world. Also, the components in your bottle use about 2 to 3% of the finished flagship Magnus expression of the regular Jos. Magnus Triple Cask (Oloroso, PX, and Cognac), and I combined that with 12.5 to 20 year old Bourbon. All of this blend finishes exclusively in Armagnac barrels. Thus, any cask finished notes you might taste will really just be coming from the Armagnac. The Sherry and Cognac notes in the blend are negligible. But the plum, prune, leather, and burnt cherry are a combination of the age of the Bourbon and the Armagnac.

Secondly, yes, I actually DID take a needle and syringe into the 2 original Magnus bottles by going through the side of the glass and did very little damage to the closure and cork. It literally took at least an hour to do this because of all the pushback on the needle! When I analyzed the whiskey, I noticed that it had a strong Sherry type note to it. Interestingly enough, we discovered that when Joseph Magnus was selling off used barrels when he closed down his distillery, he was selling off Sherry casks. Cheers, Nancy.”

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