Review #179: Joseph A. Magnus Cigar Blend Batch #286

MASH BILL: undisclosed (blend of bourbons, various finishes)

PROOF: 119.36

AGE: NAS (10+ yr according to Nancy)

COST: $180 for 750mL bottle (received as a gift from my wife, so best guess based off the Capital One credit card transactions 😉) 

This is a bottle I have wanted to pick up for a long time. Not specifically batch 286, but any of the Joseph A Magnus Cigar Blend batches. I had an opportunity to get a bottle in early 2023 that I passed on one week, but I went back a week later and, naturally, it was gone. Since then, I haven’t seen a single bottle locally. Fast forward to May 8, 2025, and I received this bottle as a gift from my wife for my birthday.

Now, let me clarify something of why this is more significant than you may realize. My wife does NOT gift me bourbon, or whiskey of any kind, ever. She’s known I like whiskey, and especially bourbon, since we first started dating over 15 years ago. However, she also knows that I’ve tried a lot over the years and has stated clearly in the past that she doesn’t want to try and get me any bottle as a gift because she has no idea if I’ve had it previously or if I would want it. This is the first time, EVER, she has gone out on a limb and bought me a bottle as a gift. One of two things are true here: 1) she was desperate to get something and didn’t have any other ideas this year, or 2) she decided to finally cave and just get me something she knew I would like regardless of whether I’ve had it or not.

So, you now know more about the background of my exposure to JMCB than she did when she pulled the trigger and spent $209.98 with tax and shipping for this bottle. So, let’s see if it was worth it!

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn. (Notes in parentheses denotes paired with a maduro cigar. Let’s see it earn its title.)

APPEARANCE: A dark, dark ruby color (1.7); thick and viscous – it just wants to cling to the glass.

NOSE: Dark red fruit notes such as fig and cherry pair with and generous amount of French vanilla cream. Buttery toffee and burnt brown sugar add further to the sweetness. Notes of black pepper, a dash of cinnamon powder, saddle leather, and spicy oak balance this out. Digging in further I find some raisin notes hiding in the background along with a touch of fresh sage. This is a fairly involved nose that has quite a few layers to dissect. (With a cigar this becomes much more homogenous, yet it leans a little heavier into the sweet, red fruit notes and a touch of milk chocolate.)

PALATE: A very syrupy mouthfeel at first coating the palate with ease, but it turns a bit drying fairly quickly. Nice barrel character. Spicy, aged oak, a sprig of fresh mint and lemon peel, fresh ground black pepper, and burnt brown sugar. As I let it sit on my palate, it becomes drying and a slight nuttiness shows up along with a damp oak note. Toasted vanilla bean is ever present. I get a kiss of those dark fruit notes right at the swallow, but otherwise they’re fairly non-existent on the palate in exchange for the spicier and earthier notes. (Paired with a cigar this sip really tingles the palate. However, the spicier notes are a bit more muted, and the brown sugar and oak notes really show up more prominently. The leather from the nose shows up as well as damp, dark tobacco. With a chew, a good bit of black cherry. Dark chocolate is prevalent just before going into the finish.)

FINISH: This has a very long finish and leans towards the sweeter side. I get burnt brown sugar and cocoa nibs for minutes after the swallow. Toasted vanilla and a touch of cherry are present at first but is exchanged for seasoned oak fairly quickly. (Paired with a cigar the finish is shortened from minutes to about 30 seconds or so. However, I have chosen to pair it with a rather dark, heavy cigar. I would imagine a bit lighter tobacco would allow the whiskey to linger longer. As far as notes, the vanilla stands a bit more prominent, while the oak and chocolate are more married and mild. The black pepper spice shows up more now and numbs my cheeks and the sides of my tongue.)

RATING: 8.4/10

OVERALL: This is every bit as fantastic as I hoped it would be and definitely earns its title as the undisputed champ (and OG) of cigar blends!  My favorite thing about this whiskey is that while it has a significant amount of finishing, the whiskey is still front and center and the various finishes simply enhance the whiskey but do not overpower it. Sometimes the finishes outshine the whiskey itself, almost trying to mask imperfections and flaws. That is not the case here and I appreciate that. There is a lot of barrel character on this blend, no doubt attributed to the 10 to 20 year old bourbon that makes up the blend. After having tried this I have some regrets not picking up that JMCB bottle that I saw in a local store back in early 2023 (likely early 100s or double digit batch numbers). However, knowing that the first time I got to enjoy this expression was from a bottle that my wife went out on a limb to get for me as a surprise, hoping that it isn’t something I already had, makes that miss over 2 years ago roll across the palate as easy as this pour does.

(I want to leave this bottle on a good note, but I feel like I should be fair to all my past reviews and at least share what reservations I have with this whiskey. It’s a bit dry on the palate, and I really, REALLY, wish those red fruit notes from the nose transferred over better to the palate or finish. The nose was fantastic for my preferences (like 10/10 category), but it left me longing for more on the palate and finish.)

Behind The Bottle

There’s not a lot to share about Joseph A. Magnus Cigar Blend that isn’t already shared elsewhere. Nacey Fraley has been so transparent with these batches over the years that it’s one of the better labels for whiskey nerds to dive into and pick apart. Mike over at Bourbon Culture has actually written a stellar article explaining the history of JMCB to the finest of detail out there. In that light, all I’m sharing here are the specifics as best as I understand them for batch #286.

Nancy Fraley is quite transparent about JMCB batches. While she doesn’t provide the tasting notes for every single batch like she used to, she still shares a non-trivial amount of information about JMCB. Follow her on Instagram (@nancylfraley) or reddit (u/whiskeyblender).

From her Instagram posts, Nancy made it clear that from batch #280 and onward the goal was to replicate the first 14 batches of JMCB as best as possible. This included returning to a minimum of 10 year bourbons in the blend as well as being a majority MGP whiskey instead of Barton. There is nothing wrong with Barton distillate in my opinion, but simply put, that wasn’t how it started. Barton became a key component of JMCB batches from batch 15 to the mid-200s (maybe as late as batch 279) because they simply needed more barrels to keep up with the demand.

Starting with batch #280, 10+ year MGP high rye (36%) was the youngest bourbon that would be in the batches. From the same Instagram post that announced this, she stated that “current batches are 10, 16, and 20 years old.” Going back further, in early 2023, Nancy stated that they were releasing 12 batches at a time (2 Coupe Meres). If that was still the case in early 2024, then I think it would be fair to say that batch #286 contains 10, 16, and 20 year old whiskey in the blend.

The article that I linked above really can’t be done any better in my opinion. It goes into all the details about how the JMCB batches are created, the process, where Nancy learned how to do cigar blends, etc. It’s seriously worth a read! If you are just casually aware of JMCB, taking 10 minutes to read that article will make you 100% more knowledgeable about cigar blends and specifically how JMCB came to be.

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, BBCo Origin High Wheat, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, Maker's Mark Wood Finishing releases, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Woodford Reserve Batch Proof 121.2, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08

 

Check out all my reviews: Woodgrain & Whiskey.