The Story

It wasn’t until last year that we really started noticing Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend popping up on social media. On Instagram, some of our friends were getting bottles and taking pictures of them, doing reviews and generally feeling giddy about their newfound pours. We made a mental note of the general excitement and knew that if our path with Cigar Blend were e’er to cross, we would be sure to make it ours.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago where fate would hand us an opportunity; our local shop received some in their weekly delivery. Of course, we knew what we had to have it, so we sent the standard text message of ‘hold it, I’m on my way!’ to our shop owner friend and headed on out. Thankfully he obliged and we were able to secure a bottle.

Ever since Jos. A. Magnus & Co. relocated to our home state of Michigan, we’ve been even more keen to learn about them. Michigan has a few nationally-known whiskey brands, but not many, comparatively speaking. So for Magnus to relocate was a huge deal for us whiskey nerds. Since they made the move, they’ve launched new brands like Fox & Oden and have released Michigan-only products which is an incredibly awesome thing for us.

So let’s dig into this bottle…it’s a straight bourbon whiskey finished in Armagnac, Sherry and Cognac casks. According to Jos. A Magnus, it’s a combination of award-winning Joseph Magnus Bourbon and 11 and 18-year-old whiskeys, which are artfully blended to enjoy with a fine cigar.

Our particular bottle of Cigar Blend is batch 84, clocking in at 60.72 proof. It’s worth mentioning that batch 84 is a Michigan only batch and is a separate coupe made up of 3 bourbon barrels of the same age range.

Nose

The nose presents a wonderful array of tobacco, smoke and oak, leather, caramel and baking spice.

Palate

The nose perfectly segues right into the palate, which offers much of the same but highlights a bit more of the leather notes and adds cinnamon-sugar, toffee and chocolate.

Finish

On the finish, it’s nice and warm with a deep Kentucky Hug that emphasizes those chocolate and toffee candy notes, supported by baking spice and leather.

Verdict

We’re giving this bottle an emphatic ‘buy’ rating. This was our first bottle of Jos. A. Magnus’ Cigar Blend and had heard great things about it, so our expectations were a bit high on this one – and to our amazement, the bottle exceeded those expectations. Master Blender Nancy Fraley absolutely knocked it out of the park with this batch, and provided a crucial pointer to get the most out of your tasting:

“For enhanced enjoyment of each batch, Master Blender Nancy Fraley recommends opening the bottle and taking a small pour off the neck. Allow the bottle to aerate for an hour or more to fully appreciate the intensity and complexity of the dram.”

While we didn’t wait the full hour to have our taste (it’s tough to wait that long ?), we did notice that aromas certainly opened up on the nose and the intensity of the notes on our later sips did enhance. So it’s probably best to take Nancy’s advice on this one – be more disciplined than we are.

There’s no doubt that Cigar Blend is an experience that every bourbon drinker and cigar aficionado alike will fall in love with.

Overall, we’re giving Batch 84 of Jos. A. Magnus Cigar Blend a 9 out of 10. It’s an exceedingly pleasurable pour with incredible deep notes and the absolute perfect pour to enjoy with a quality cigar.

Cheers friends!