Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750 ML

Jos. A. Magnus & Co. is the second coming of the Magnus brand. Originally started by Joseph A. Magnus in 1892, the company focused on producing whiskey until Prohibition took hold. Afterwards, the brand was revitalized when Joseph Magnus’ great grandson discovered a few unopened bottles bearing the family namesake. Re-established in 2015, the company now focuses on blending and finishing techniques initially employed by Joseph Magnus. Today, Joseph Magnus is stated to be a bourbon that is as close as possible to the original Joseph Magnus Bourbon initially discovered by his great grandson.

Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a marriage of bourbon whiskey that is triple cask finished in Oloroso sherry, Pedro Ximénez sherry, and cognac casks for rich and complex character. Oloroso and Pedro Jimenez sherries are both intensely sweet fortified wines (the oloroso is a little less sweet) that often provide dark and dense grape, prune, honey, nutty, and sometimes savory and funky aged cheese characteristics.

This is because the grapes are initially sun dried to concentrate the sugars before being turned into wine and barrel aged for a number of years, with exposure to the air inside the barrel creating some of that savory and wacky funk. I’m not as well versed in cognac, but I do know that Armangac, a similar French grape spirit, can provide a lot of dark fruit, dried citrus, candied fruits, spiced ginger, and oak notes. With that brief lesson in mind, let’s learn more about the whiskey itself in this Joseph Magnus Bourbon review. Joseph Magnus is always going to be a polarizing bottle to many who walk past it on a store shelf simply because it’s a barrel finished bourbon. Seeing that Joseph Magnus is finished in three unique barrels won’t help its case with these consumers.

Additionally, a higher price tag for a NAS sourced bourbon is also a tough pill for many to swallow. However, after having the chance to really dive into this finished bourbon, I say to those individuals, it’s worth your time and money to give it a fair shake.

Tasting Notes:

Appearance: Dark amber/golden brown in color with hues of deep red

Nose: Expressive and enticing, the nose starts off with scents of orange rind drizzled with light honey, along with a rush of ripe plums and other dark fruits. Diving in deeper reveals hints of buttercream frosted cake, light leather, and the slightest hint of ethanol. The triple cask finish is apparent, as the mingling of scents is unique yet distinguished, providing a thought-provoking complexity and a great way to open the sip. Chocolate covered cherries right up front, followed by layers of orange zest, brown sugar, caramel, and warm alcohol. Deep in the glencairn you get hints of sweet cinnamon and cloves that meld with the orange to produce a mulled wine character. An impressive, complex nose.

Palate: The sip starts with sweeter notes of cherry pie filling, vanilla and brown sugar. Dark fruits pop behind and help bridge the transition to drier notes of oak and leather. The fact that this bourbon touched four different barrels seems to be more prominent here, as the drier notes become more dominating the longer you swirl the sip around in your mouth. While the delivery may not quite live up to what the nose teased, it comes pretty close. The entry is thick and heavy with chocolate initially dominating. The mid-palate progresses to black cherries, red hots, more orange zest, and a funky, earthiness that I associate with full-bodied wines. The finish is long and somewhat bitter with dark chocolate, coffee, and finally a cola-like sweetness.

Finish: The drier flavors from the palate slide into the finish to round things out. Green peppercorn, oak, leather, and a hint of tobacco leaf immediately pop. These morph into a lingering dry oak with a slight hint of medicinal cherry. Even with the finish falling short, the bourbon delivers a diverse and nuanced sip thanks to a solid nose and palate. Surprisingly, even with its utilization of three distinct casks in finishing, no individual barrel influence is too overpowering. Instead, Joseph Magnus delivers a sip that is clearly influenced by the barrels it touched, yet one that can still be appreciated by bourbon drinkers who may not normally reach for a barrel finished bourbon.