ContemplativeFox
Murray Hill Club Blended Bourbon
Bourbon — (blended & bottled in Washington D.C.), USA
Reviewed
June 27, 2020 (edited September 22, 2020)
The nose takes the regular Magnus and adds more fruit, removing some of the wet wood. It has a rich and savory presence, but one that is less pronounced than that of the regular Magnus. The palate is quite nice with a big hit of cinnamon and toffee without being too harsh up front. There's a lot of vanilla too, making this really hedonistic. It's very woody with rich dark chocolate notes dancing with red fruit and spice. It lacks the brashness and leather of regular Joseph Magnus, though it also lacks the wet wood (the wet wood really works in the regular Joseph Magnus though). It has more fruit and the vanilla and brown sugar are less present. This tastes more like a (very well executed) standard bourbon than regular Joseph Magnus does. The balance is excellent with just the right amount of tartness. From every direction, this is a wonderful drink. Between the two, I think I slightly prefer regular Joseph Magnus, but this has an amazing balance that slightly surpasses Booker's Shiny Barrel with water added and also beats Booker's Shiny Barrel in complexity. There's a ton going on here, like another evolution from Evan Williams Black to Jim Beam Black to this!
130.0
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@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington Yeah, the CB is near or at the top of my unicorn list too. I'm deeply impressed by how different but excellent Magnus and Murray Hill are.
I definitely agree and picked up the classic, simple but enjoyable wood, fruit and vanilla. The flavors, the softness, the relaxed finish are worlds different from JM. How they come from the same liquid DNA I cannot say, but Nancy Fraley has my undivided attention. Her CB is now my official unicorn, not because I expect anything in particular but rather I can’t imagine where it could go beyond these two.