Jos. A. Magnus & Co.
About the Distillery
Jos. A. Magnus & Co. traces its roots to a family history in the late 19th century and today is an American brand based in Holland, Michigan. The brand builds on Joseph A. Magnus’s ambition for quality and perfection and focuses on blending and triple-cask finishing to create bourbon that aims to approximate the historical profile from a bottle dated 1892.
History
Joseph A. Magnus’s history begins in the mid-1800s. After his father’s death in 1864, he took on responsibility for his siblings and developed into a successful wholesaler in the spirits industry. At the turn of the century, his products, including Murray Hill Club Whiskey, gained broad recognition and were sold to prominent bars and hotels. Prohibition in 1918 forced him to stop production for the rest of his life, and the story passed into the family. In 2007, a great-grandchild found a sealed bottle from around 1892, and the family assembled a panel of experts to taste and attempt to recreate the whiskey. The work led to a modern revival focused on the original blending and finishing methods.
Raw Materials and Production
Production emphasizes blending over single-barrel maturation. A central approach is to finish a 12-year bourbon in a triple-cask finish comprising Oloroso Sherry, Pedro Ximénez, and Cognac casks. The team composes blends by combining distillates of varying ages to achieve the desired balance, for example in Murray Hill Club, where older bourbons are mixed with a lighter 9-year-old whiskey. The actual distillation details, malt or water sources are not specified, but expertise in blending and cask selection is pervasive in the working methods.
Maturation and Cask Types
Maturation includes traditional bourbon casks for base aging and a notable triple-cask finish on Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez, and Cognac casks for select releases. There is also experimentation with assembling bourbons of different ages into a single blend to achieve complexity and balance.
Whiskies
The portfolio focuses primarily on bourbon: Joseph Magnus Bourbon (12 years) with triple-cask finishing, Murray Hill Club as a composite blend of 18-, 11- and 9-year-old components, and a Cigar Blend series released in ongoing batches with associated tasting notes. The site also mentions gin products, but the whiskey portion centers on blending, aging in bourbon casks, and finishing in sherry- and cognac-cask finishes.
| Whisky | Type / Series | Age | Cask & Finish | Flavor Profile | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Magnus Bourbon | Bourbon | 12 years | Triple-cask finishing (Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez, Cognac); finished: 12-year bourbon aged in a triple-cask finish with Oloroso Sherry, Pedro Ximénez and Cognac casks | A bourbon aged with a triple-cask finish to emulate the founder's historical style. | Current; Core range |
| Murray Hill Club | Bourbon / Blend | Blend of 18-, 11- and 9-year-old distillates | Aged bourbon casks; finish: blended by mixing 18- and 11-year-old bourbons with a 9-year-old light whiskey | A composed blend that unites older bourbons with lighter, younger whiskey to create balance and complexity. | Current; Core range |
| Cigar Blend Bourbon | Bourbon / Blend | A blend designed to be enjoyed with cigars; the site mentions ongoing batches and associated tasting notes. | Current; Core range | ||
| Murray Hill Club Batch #4 | Bourbon / Special Release | A newer, limited edition in the Murray Hill Club series referred to as a special release. | Limited |
Whiskies' Style and Flavor Profile
The whiskies show a clear variation in aroma profiles. In the Cigar Blend batches, espresso and tobacco are explicitly mentioned alongside fruity berries and baked fruit notes (cobbler). The overall style ranges from darker, roasted/coffee-like tones and tobacco to sweeter, fruitier nuances; these directions recur in the published tasting notes for selected batches.
Visit the Distillery
Private tours are offered at CraftCo Distillery & Social House in Holland, Michigan. Visitors can book private tours that show blending, finishing, and barrel aging, and there is an opportunity for tastings in connection with the tours. Tours require advance booking via the distillery's contact channels and are not walk-in experiences.
Philosophy and Craftsmanship
The concept is built on Joseph A. Magnus’s focus on quality, honesty, and respect for the craft. Practically, it manifests as a targeted use of historical blending and finishing methods and in efforts to recreate a historical flavor profile with the help of experts and carefully selected casks.