The bottle
Joseph Magnus Cigar Mix Bourbon, $199.99
The again story
Individuals proceed to like their bourbon and different domestic-made whiskeys. Gross sales have soared for the class lately, with the Distilled Spirits Council of america reporting that they reached practically $5.1 billion in 2022.
In the meantime, many Individuals have additionally all the time beloved a very good cigar. And lately, they’re exhibiting their appreciation greater than ever. Imports of premium (or hand-rolled) cigars have grown from 330 million stogies in 2017 to 464.5 million in 2022, in accordance with the Premium Cigar Affiliation.
All of which makes a cigar-friendly bourbon a pure, no?
Certainly, Joseph Magnus, a Michigan-based distillery whose roots return to the pre-prohibition period, has been promoting such a bourbon (and a reasonably high-end one) for the previous couple of years. It’s launched repeatedly in restricted portions and batches are usually gone pretty shortly, in accordance with Matt Overway, manufacturing supervisor for the model.
So, how do you craft a bourbon that pairs with a cigar? Overway says it’s all about having a sip that’s wealthy sufficient to face as much as these potent tobacco flavors.
A part of that’s concerning the proof — that means it wants be boozy sufficient to holds its personal (the Cigar Mix we tried clocked in a reasonably alcoholic 114 proof). Nevertheless it’s additionally about growing older the spirit to a sure maturity, so it ought to come as no shock that Cigar Mix is a mix of whiskeys aged between roughly 10 to 18 years. Plus, the whiskey is completed in barrels that previously held Armagnac, so the French brandy provides its personal notes of candy complexity to the combo, Overway explains.
What we give it some thought
I’m a cigar-loving whiskey drinker so I used to be particularly inquisitive about this one. To Overway’s level, it’s an enormous, daring bourbon that may simply meet the problem of pairing with an enormous, daring stogie. You’ll get notes of vanilla and dried fruit, a little bit trace of spice and a boozy kick with every sip — in all, fairly hearty and scrumptious.
My solely quibble is that you just don’t really want to spend $200 to discover a good whiskey (or different spirit) to get pleasure from with a cigar. I significantly like aged rums and Calvados, a French apple brandy, with my smokes — and people could be discovered for effectively beneath $100, to say nothing of different flavorful bourbons that may be had for a lot lower than $200. Nonetheless, the Magnus Cigar Mix is kind of a delight.
The best way to get pleasure from it
Overway suggests having this neat if you happen to’re pairing it with a cigar, so the proof stays excessive. However if you wish to sip it sans stogie, he suggests making an attempt it with some ice and letting it slowly mix into the whiskey. “I just like the journey of the proof change because the dice melts,” he says.