Member Sign In Create Account
Login with email and password
No account yet? Register Now
Cigar Blend Batches,Release Dates & Ratings for Each Batch
| Batch | Proof | Released | Bottles | Rating |
| #1 | 100.7 | Nov 2016 | 504 | 10 |
| #2 | 108.7 | Apr 2017 | 545 | 9.5 |
| #3 | 100.7 | 2017 | Prav | |
| #4 | 101.46 | Sep 2017 | ||
| #5 | ||||
| #6 | 112.92 | 8.0 | ||
| #7 | 7.0 | |||
| #8 | 112.82 | Apr 2018 | 7.5 | |
| #9 | Jul 2018 | 542 | 7.5 | |
| #10 | Sep 2018 | 529 | 7.5 | |
| #11 | Dec 2018 | 8.0 | ||
| #12 | 104.2 | 2018 | 9.0 | |
| #13 | 103.6 | 2018 | 522 | 9.0 |
| #14 | 100.7 | Jul 2019 | 8.5 | |
| #15 | 106.0 | Nov 2019 | ||
| #16 | 104.0 | Nov 2019 | ||
| #17 | Nov 2019 | 332 | 8.0 | |
| #18 | Nov 2019 | |||
| #19 | Apr 2020 | |||
| #20 | 124.0 | Apr 2020 | 8.0 | |
| #21 | Apr 2020 | |||
| #22 | 124.0 | Apr 2020 | 8.0 | |
While non-age stated, it is known the first batch of the Cigar Blend includes 11-year old bourbon, 18-year-old bourbon, with about 25% of the Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon (a 9-year-old bourbon finished in PX, Oloroso, and cognac casks). This final blend is then finished in Armagnac casks. Limited Edition - 504 Bottles Total - Created by Magnus Master Blended Nancy Fraley, Joseph Magnus "Cigar Blend" Bourbon is artfully blended specifically to drink when enjoying a fine cigar, and is possibly the first bourbon post-Prohibition made expressly for this purpose. A combination of our award winning Joseph Magnus Bourbon, with 11 and 18 year old whiskeys, the Cigar Blend assumes bold, rich aromas of tobacco, spice, leather, vanilla, blanched almonds, and toffee. The Armagnac cask finish lends fruity notes of fig, prune, and dried apricot.
The nose on Cigar Blend is sexy, with sweet tobacco smoke, dark fruit, and vanilla sugar. It's one of the best noses I have had in a long while. On the palate, it’s decadent southern dessert: toasted pecan, vanilla bean, and butter brickle perfectly layered with sweet fig jam and dark berry cobbler. With a thick, oily mouthfeel that leaves all of those flavors integrating well into a generous finish that exhibits the perfect amount of heat at 100.7 proof.
Batch 3 was a pick from The Bourbon Cartel. Finished in: a PX Sherry cask, a Cognac cask, and an Armagnac cask.
#10 written by bottle number.
-Started the MSRP price of 199.99 used first refill casks like the 1st batch (1-4. 6 first refill casks)
Batch #13 (written on front) is actually a blend of 13.5 to 20 year old MGP stock, much of which utilizes the 36% bourbon recipe. Finally, I only use Armagnac casks for the finishing. Since I use about 10 to 20% of the regular Joseph Magnus Triple Cask in the blend, that means that legally, we're required to specify the Cognac and Sherry casks. In reality, the only cask finished notes you should be tasting would be the Armagnac, which is a radically different spirit from Cognac. And as a final final, batch #13 came from a particularly spicy freshly-dumped Armagnac cask, so
that's where you would get Dr. Pepper, cinnamon, and other spice notes. That barrel was a beast!
Batch #15 is perhaps the spiciest batch of Cigar Blend released to date. It spent 5 ½ months in a 300 liter freshly dumped Armagnac barrel, so it has picked up a considerable amount of barrel spice and tannin content. On the nose, it offers notes of intense brown baking spices such as allspice, clove, cinnamon, and mace, with black licorice and old saddle leather. On the palate, notes of cracked black, white, and chipotle pepper are supported by salted caramel pudding, bittersweet dark chocolate, caraway seed, and pumpernickel bread drizzled with sweet orange blossom honey on top. The finish is semi-dry, with lots of rye spice, caraway seed, and Nutella.
For those who want to pair this batch with a fine cigar, we recommend pairing it with one that is a little sweeter, silkier, and softer on the palate for a pleasant aromatic experience.
Fans of Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend who like nutty aromas will be particularly fond of Batch #16, which has taken on a lot of “rancio” notes on the nose and palate. Rancio is a much-prized yet elusive aroma found particularly in high end Cognacs, Armagnacs, and other brandies that were distilled with a lot of fatty acids. The aroma of “rancio” is technically the oxidized esters of fatty acids, of which Cigar Blend Batch #16 seems to have in abundance. It seems that this particular barrel was previously filled with an Armagnac that exhibited a lot of these type of notes, and so it has imparted these notes into the bourbon.
In this batch, which was finished in a 400 liter freshly dumped Armagnac cask, we find a lot of fruity top notes of with Medjool date and California Mission fig, stewed prunes in Armagnac syrup, along with ginger snap cookie, orange marmalade, Tawny Port, dark dried fruit notes of stewed prunes. There is also a tang of Roquefort cheese with a touch of Atlantic ocean brine, graphite from pencil shavings, and Turron de Alicante (Spanish almond nougat). We find this batch to be one of the most complex barrels that we’ve had to date, with an exceedingly long finish.
Batch #17 spent its cask-finishing life in a 400 liter freshly dumped Armagnac barrel, much like Batches #16 and #18. However, this batch is quite “perfumy,” with a lot of fruit and floral notes. We find a significant amount of top notes which are supported by deeper, darker aromas. Aromas of grilled ripe peach, dried apricot, cherry pie with a buttery crust, lime blossom, and wild prunes are omnipresent on the nose. On the palate, the fruity notes on the nose remain and are enhanced by flavors of old cedar chest, chocolate mousse, and sandalwood incense. A complex and aromatic bourbon whiskey.
We find Cigar Blend Batch #18 to be the most balanced of all the Armagnac-finished barrels from this coupe. It has a lot of caramelized wood sugars coming from the barrel, exhibiting notes of toffee, vanilla bean, red and black berry compote, orange blossom honey, croissant with melted butter, and bitter-sweet chocolate. The palate offers flavors of sweet and sour pomegranate juice, a touch of almond paste, aromatic pipe tobacco, and brown baking spice notes of allspice and cinnamon.
Batch #19 is chock full of root beer, creamy egg custard with vanilla beans, sassafras bark, wintergreen, dried tarragon notes, pencil shavings, Mexican chocolate, salted caramel, and rose potpourri, which together with whispers of Seville orange marmalade and mixed salted nuts, makes for a rather contradictory and aromatically intriguing bundle of complex flavors. A few drops of water will help to tame the effects of the high proof and bring forth a cornucopia of bold, lingering flavors of cherry-flavored Coca Cola, peanut butter brittle, dried rose petals, chipotle pepper flakes, and roasted cashews on the palate and to the finish.
Batch #20 is a dense, brooding, and bold expression of Cigar Blend Bourbon. A chocolate lover’s dream, the initial waves of aroma cascade into intense notes of devil’s food chocolate cake, ice cream sundae drizzled with hot chocolate syrup, and dark chocolate covered cherries. The chocolate is followed by more dark notes of thick, creamy-headed Guinness stout, black strap molasses, pecan pie filling with chocolate chips, aged Tawny Port-flavored pipe tobacco, barrel aged Balsamic vinegar, and prunes in syrup. While the Armagnac notes do not overpower the bourbon, they do add prominent flavors of black currants and medjool dates coupled with almond paste. The finish is persistent, with giant rogue waves of cocoa powder and black cherry cobbler with a buttery, flaky crust.
The initial nose on Batch #21 is exceptionally sweet, with enticing aromas of sticky toffee pudding, spice cake drizzled with blackberry blossom honey, cinnamon rolls, rum raisin, prunes in syrup, white icing, and stuffed medjool dates with toasted, shaved coconut. All of these notes press on the palate, coupled with the addition of Jamaican allspice, orange with cloves, citrusy Madagascar cinnamon, candied ginger, coconut milk, blackberry jam, and hazelnuts. The sticky toffee pudding returns in the finish, with fruit flavors of dried apricot, blackberry, and stewed prunes lingering from the Armagnac cask influence.
Batch #22, while coming from the same coupe mere as batches #19 – 21, was housed in a freshly dumped Armagnac cask that gave it a somewhat different flavor profile from the other three casks. This batch has an air of refinement, muscularity, and dynamite power on the nose and palate. It is the liquid version of a Victorian-era “gentleman’s study,” draped in dark mahogany. The classic bourbon caramel pudding and vanilla bean notes remain solid, coated by a long-aged vintage Armagnac profile of prunes in syrup, well-worn Chesterfield leather sofa, cigar humidor, English Christmas cake, brandied cherries, nutty “rancio” aromas, and brown baking spices. The finish is long, luxurious, and contemplative.
Prav Saraff Pick - 2018
Login with a social network