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Barrel finishing bourbon isn’t exactly a new or novel concept, and there’s a litany of different folks out there who are barrel finishing bourbons in a myriad of different ways imparting some distinctive flavor profiles to their whiskey. Jos. A Magnus & Co. however is a standout in terms of highlighting what can be done in this space, and their use of triple barrel finishing which is a rarity in the whiskey business. Below we unpackage some of the detail about the brand and their various brownwater offerings.
Joseph Magnus was born in 1858 in Rome Georgia. A son of a businessman, he was just six years old when he became the “man of the house” following his father’s passing in the Civil War. He worked in his younger years as a travelling salesman, having three younger siblings which he helped provide for. In 1884 he married and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. It is here that he carved out a niche in the wholesale liquor market, and in 1894 opened the doors on a liquor store in Cincinnati's downtown on Main Street. Over the next ten or so years, almost twenty brands are developed by Magnus including “Murray Hill Club,” his flagship product which was created in celebration of a New York City saloon. As Prohibition hit, Magnus had to pause his production and sales. He then retired to Michigan and some ten years later passes away with the brand fading to the annals of history.
A great quote from Joseph Magnus about excellent whiskey was that it promoted “the interchange of kindly deeds and pleasant thoughts.”
In 2015 the distillery was re-established following discovery by Magnus’ great-grandson of a 122-year-old bottle of the family’s Murray Hill Club Whiskey. This discovery led to the desire to restart the art of finished bourbon under the Magnus name. Taking this one bottle, the family gathered various industry experts to taste, test, and discuss if the whiskey could even be reproduced.
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Using blending techniques that would have been employed during the original whiskey’s creation, Master Blender Nancy Fraley an industry veteran now curates this historic bourbon. During the first years of the resurrected distilleries resurgence, the brand was located in Washington D.C., however in 2020 they moved to Holland, Michigan in homage of where Joseph Magnus spent his retirement. Currently Jos. A. Magnus & Co. products can be purchased in 33 states.
Below we discuss the various offerings from Jos. A. Magnus & Co. which comprise a variety of unique and nuanced bourbons.
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An exceptional bourbon, this straight bourbon whiskey is triple cask finished over several months in Oloroso sherry, Pedro Ximénez sherry, and Cognac casks. This novel process of using not one, not two, but three separate barrels to finish their whiskey truly sets this bourbon apart from a busy field of other finished bourbons. Add in the original cask and this bourbon has navigated its way across four different barrels in finding its way into your dram. This finishing technique layers in complexity that you will certainly find enjoyable at a price point that’s not terribly unreasonable given the sweat equity that goes into transferring this juice from cask to cask. You can find this on the shelf for $90 most days. 100 proof.
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A 1910 advertisement for Murray Hill Club in a Cincinnati newspaper noted “The Supreme excellence of Murray Hill Club whiskey is due to its delicious flavor and incomparable bouquet. This coupled with its mellowness and purity yields delightful satisfaction to the last drop. Public appreciation is the reward of distinctive merit.”
A predominant difference between this bourbon and the brands flagship bottling Joseph Magnus Bourbon, is the blending of light whiskey with bourbon, making it a blended bourbon, whereas Joseph Magnus is one hundred percent just bourbon. Jos. A. Magnus & Co. marry 18- and 11-year-old bourbon with 9-year-old light whiskey to create this product. I think this is a fine pour but am much more apt to lean towards the regular ol’ Magnus bottling as the impact of this bourbon is somewhat fleeting without tremendous depth. Expect to pay about $10 more than the regular Joseph Magnus Bourbon for this bottle. 103 proof.
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An extension of the Murray Hill Club line, these limited releases, of which, there have been four to-date, are the upper echelon of blending prowess from Nancy Fraley.
Batch 1 is a blend of 9- to 18-year-old straight bourbons finished in Pineau des Charentes – if you’re none the wiser like this guy that’s a French fortified wine. This imparts a fruity/earthy complexity to the Murray Hill Club profile. 112 proof.
Batch 2 is similar to batch 1, having the same finishing technique and same proofing.
Batch 3 consists of two barrels of 15-year-old light whiskey with 10 barrels of 12- to 20-year-old bourbon finished for eight months in Virginia Distillery Company malt whiskey barrels that originally contained apple cider. 111 proof.
Batch 4 is a blend of 8 and 17-year-old bourbons finished for four months in hand-selected, fresh Calvados casks from the Normandy region of France. 111 proof.
Expect to never see this out and about on the shelf, so if you’re in the market you’ll have to find one on the secondary and even those are few and far between. Expect to pay anywhere from $300 to $400 to add this to your lineup at home.
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Building from a base of the Joseph Magnus Bourbon (already triple cask finished as you’ll recall), it then pairs with a high rye bourbon and is finished yet again in Armagnac casks. Each batch is different with over 200 batches underfoot. Regardless of batch the end game is the creation of a bourbon that pairs well with a cigar, and whether you like cigars or hate them, you’ll probably really enjoy this bourbon which has complexity for days. There’s a chance you might find this while out at your local liquor store, but those chances are fairly slim. These regularly trade hands on the secondary however, and you can expect that early batches will fetch a premium, going for upwards of $400 or so, with more contemporary batches averaging closer to $200.
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Exceedingly uncommon, the Magnus website suggests that anywhere from 15-20 barrels are included in picks each year. These are exceedingly rare on the secondary market, but when they do come up expect to pay around $350 for a bottle.
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A 192-bottle run released just before Christmas in 2016 J.A. Magnus Reserve is a blended bourbon comprised of 16- and 18-year-old “honey barrels” that were selected by Nancy Fraley (of unknown origin, but most likely MGP in Indiana). The bottle was packaged in a decorative wooden box and at the time, retailed for nearly a grand and sold out within a month. Since starting the Bourbon Blue Book™, we’ve not seen this pop up many times on the Secondary, but the going rate is about $4,000. 92 Proof.
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