Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend Bourbon

Neat. Sample. Batch 28. This has been on my unicorn list. A friend sent me this sample and also then found me a bottle. So I better love this for all he did to get it to me! The nose is more subtle than I was expecting but there is a lot going on. Not a lot of obvious MGP notes either. The finishing is front and center. Rich brown sugar and cinnamon. Medley of raspberries and blueberries. Vanilla frosting. Definitely some tobacco. Nice oak and leather. Hint if almond. Oh there is some Fig Newtons in here too. That is interesting. Geez this nose is incredible. Amazing how many layers there are when at the same time it isn’t in your face or aggressive. Just lean back and take your time with it. Rich and creamy. Wow, oily too. Runs in every crevice instantly. Dark raspberries and brown sugar on the tongue. And the raspberries are really juicy. Oh those Fig Newtons make another appearance. Transitions to the almonds and the vanilla. Back to the berries in the legs. And then leaves with leather, tobacco and oak. It gets better and more intense on each sip. The flavors go for miles. My mouth is watering and even my saliva has these intense flavors to bring it all back again. These flavors are still hanging in my mouth and especially the roof of my mouth. I think my toes curled at one point of the experience. As I work my way to the bottom of the sample, this sweet oak is growing and is even more delicious. Gosh. This may be one of my favorite bottles ever. I’m overwhelmed.

Lots of subtle spice and smooth warm ness. Shard to pinpoint flavors. Will have to sit with a full pour and review again.

Love it. No off notes. Beautiful and complex. I would buy it if I found for retail, but not at the secondary market prices. So I think if you see it for $160, go for it.

Batch 24. Good nose. Fresh. Nose translates to palate. For some reason I was expecting odd flavors here, but this is straightforward, but not in a bad way. It works. 9/6/20

Batch 28. Nose - caramel, orange peel, some sweet grass, light clay dirt on a spring day after the rain, sweet notes from chocolate and perhaps simple syrup, distinct oak, perhaps a drop of cherry cough syrup as well. Taste - rich sweetness, marmalade, orange, cherry, cinnamon spices, there's a leafy and earthy element from the armagnac. Of course brown sugars and baking spices which seem to be a staple of older MGP rye and seem to come with this kind of finishing. There's certainly vanilla and perhaps even a hazelnut in the finish. Oh yeah there's that hazelnut coffee thing without the bitter coffee. Some light tobacco and hints of aged leather are almost certainly mixed in with these other notes. Just an outstanding whisky and despite the 240 I had to pay to get this (actually I haven't been told what I owe for shipping yet so maybe more), not to mention the need for a friend's mom to pick it up and ship it to me...this was well worth the trouble. If you see batch 28, it has my highest of high recommendations. This is easily a 400-500 dollar bottle and yes a extremely rare American Whisky score of 4.25.

Nose: dried fruit, tobacco, chocolate Palate: rye spice, tobacco, chocolate lava cake, butterscotch, mint, toffee Finish: long rye spice, plum, oak

Nose has tea leaf, caramel, and hay. On the palate the heat hits up front with a blend of sweetness and spice, and again with tea leaf on the back end. The finish is long with a nice hug. Unique pour.

Absolute fig and vanilla bomb with the perfect balance of heat and sweet 10/10