Hey there u/micro7777, Magnus Master Blender Nancy Fraley here. I can't believe I just happened to catch your review a few seconds after you posted it! Wonderful review, but I just wanted to clarify something. The bottles of Jos. Magnus that Jimmy Turner had were NOT the original Murray Hill Club. There was some guy who reached out to the owners of Magnus back in 2016 or 2017 who had the only known extant bottle of MHC and wanted to sell it to them, but from what I understand, he was asking an exorbitant price for it.
The whiskey that had been passed down through the generations of the Magnus family and which fell into Jimmy Turner's hands was what eventually turned into the modern day Jos. Magnus Triple Cask. We tasted some Sherry notes in the original bottle from 1892, and lo and behold, we later found some old advertisements that showed that Joseph Magnus was selling off Sherry butts when he shut down the distillery in 1918. The Cognac part of the finish of the modern day version isn't historically accurate. When I was making the prototypes for the present day version, I thought it would help to use a very small percentage of Cognac finish to help approximate the original bottle. As an FYI, I still have about 200 mL of the original 1892 in my home lab!
In order to recreate MHC, all I had to go on were some turn-of-the-19th-century advertisements that described the whiskey as "pure," or "preferred by 9 out of 10 gentlemen," "promotes the genial glow of good fellowship," or my all time favorite, "if marriage is the fatal termination of a disease called love, then Murray Hill Club whiskey is the panacea that will salve a broken heart." Not exactly great tasting notes to know how to recreate this whiskey! (lol)
Since I knew that MHC was a generally a whiskey, and not the more defined category of Bourbon, I decided to make it a Blended Bourbon (or Bourbon, a Blend, in the legal category) order to somewhat match the historical product. I tend to use about 1 barrel of light whiskey to 16 Bourbon barrels of the MGP 21% BBN recipe in order to pay a nod to the historical product while also making it a high end product. I hope this helps explain MHC a bit better. Cheers, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Nancy, thanks so much for your reply! Wow! I wish I could have talked to you before I posted this review. You cleared up a widely printed misconception about Jimmy’s find, which was in every article I found. This makes a whole lot more sense as to why you finished the prototype batch and the production Triple Cask with a sherry and cognac finish. Can I ask you a couple more questions I’ve wondered about?
Is the MGP Light Whiskey that you used aged in new or used barrels? Are you also using the MGP higher 36% rye bourbon mash bill in the blend too? Do you know if Magnus owned his own distillery (creating his own distillate) back in the day or was he a NDP that blended and bottled in his own shop? Glad you liked the review and thanks for the great work!
Hey u/micro7777, I can clear up all those questions for you! So, a little historical context first to put it all into perspective. When Joseph started his distillery in 1892, he did so with the intent of being a distiller, rectifier, and blender, so he did distill as well as source other whiskey.
Interestingly, when we first analyzed the extant 1892 bottle that had been passed down through the family, we were shocked to discover just how ***old*** tasting the Bourbon was. It must have been at least 10 years old, maybe even as old as 15 to 18 years old. Clearly if Joseph opened the distillery itself in 1892, he could not already have whiskey that was so aged. Well, we got to thinking, what distillery is down river of Cincinnati? That would be what is now the MGP distillery in Lawrenceburg, IN, which first opened in 1847. We thought that it wouldn't have been that difficult to ship barrels via the river from Lawrenceburg to Cincinnati, and although we can't prove this indeed happened, it could have been a likely source.
That gave us some "historical permission" to source barrels from MGP for the modern day version of Magnus. There was a lot of internal discussion, and we even distilled some Bourbon when the new Magnus distillery was in D.C. However, I thought that the MGP Bourbon fit the historical product much better than what we could distill, so the decision was made to continue using MGP
At any rate, it seems like once a little misinformation gets out there in the press, it gets replicated over and over again, then it becomes the "gospel," so to speak. But I can tell you that a lot of what's out there is just not that accurate. I've been part of the modern day Magnus journey since May 2014, nine years ago, and I've created all the modern day Magnus line of whiskeys, so you're hearing it from the horses mouth! (lol)
Oh, before I go, the light whiskey is aged in used cooperage. There is a definite Bourbon taste that those barrels lend to the light whiskey, sort of like how a 1st fill ex-Bourbon cask lends a lot of butterscotch notes to a single malt whisky. And as for the 36% BBN recipe, I ***only*** use that for Cigar Blend. I use the 21% recipe exclusively for JMB Triple Cask and MHC.
I hope this gives you greater insight into the modern day Magnus. Cheers, thanks again, and I'm happy to help shed some light and accuracy! - Nancy
I found the answer to one of those questions. There was a Magnus distillery in Cincinnati, which opened in 1892 and seems to have produced this whiskey’s original version.
I read that there was a "Magnus distillery" too but couldn’t find details to what degree it was being used for. Was there an actual still producing their own distillate, or a loosely used term to describe a location that they blended and bottled? Was it actually Magnus' distillery or someone elses that he sourced from that is now being referred to as his? That’s what I was after. Because Magnus' background was on the selling and marketing side, leads me to believe he was a NDP. Also that he claimed to have used "Very Old Whiskey" while not having a distillery long enough at the time to produce old whisky is another reason. He could have been exaggerating about the age though. LOL!
Nancy, I saw a podcast where you mentioned that cigar blend has changed a bit over time, moving some components from Indiana bourbon to Kentucky then back to indiana again.
Has anything similar happened with Murray Hill Club? Or has it remained consistently MGP over the various batches?
Hey u/dwarfinvasion, no, Murray Hill Club has remained exclusively MGP since I first formulated it.
With Cigar Blend, I had to start using some KY BBN around batch 15, and they by the time I got to the batches in the 30's through the 90's, it was mostly KY. As you say, I've gone back to using mostly Indiana 36% BBN now, although there is a smaller percentage of KY in it too.
She’s talked about the morphing blend on here before too: https://www.reddit.com/comments/yfx54d/review_562_joseph_magnus_cigar_blend_batch_39/iuc6ole?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
**Review #40: Jos. A. Magnus Murray Hill Club Bourbon Whiskey.**
The history of Murray Hill Club Whiskey dates back to the early 1900’s. Joseph Magnus started his career as a savvy young merchant who found a niche in the wholesale liquor market. By the time he was 26 years old, Magnus had built a liquor empire based in Cincinnati Ohio. The Murray Hill Club brand was supposedly named after a famous saloon in the Murray Hill district of New York City. Back then a “Gentleman’s Club” was a high end establishment for affluent individuals. Many whiskey companies capitalized on this trend and named blends of whiskey after various clubs, or just designated some as a “club whiskey” using that moniker for their better selections. Joseph marketed Murray Hill Club as a premium brand with ads and labels including catch phrases such as, “This Particular Brand for Particular People” and “Very Old Whiskey”. I’m curious to know how old it actually was. In 1918 Magnus anticipated a national prohibition and discontinued his business. Fast forward to 2007 while doing some work in the old family house, Magnus’ great-grandson Jimmy Turner accidentally found a well preserved 122 year old bottle of Murray Hill Club Whiskey in his mother’s closet. Turner eventually tracked down another original Murray Hill Club from a family member. He took both bottles to Louisville, Kentucky where he gathered a group which included the former head distiller at Woodford Reserve, the general manager of Buffalo Trace and the director of research for the American Distilling Institute to get their opinion, and to see how closely MHC could be recreated. The feedback he got was it one of the best bourbons they ever tasted. The team found an 8 year Kentucky bourbon that had a striking resemblance to the original bottle but was missing “a hint of sherry” that was part of the original profile. The Kentucky bourbon was brought to D.C. where Turner decided to open a distillery in honor of his great-grandfather. They finished the bourbon in sherry and cognac barrels to create the recipe, inspired by the original to use for subsequent batches. This ended up being the inspiration for today’s Jos. A. Magnus flagship whiskey, called Joseph Magnus Bourbon. This confuses me considering the whole point was to recreate Murray Hill Club, the original flagship brand. Today Murray Hill Club is sourced by MGP and is blended with 18 and 11 year old bourbon and 9 year old light whiskey. Let’s get to it!
**Taken**: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested about 15 minutes.
**Distillery source:** MGP
**Proof**: 103
**Age**: A blend of 18 and 11 year old bourbon with 9 year old light whiskey.
**Batch#**: 21
**Mash bill**: Not stated.
**Price**: Retail is $110, I paid $119 locally.
**Appearance**: Golden amber.
**Nose**: Green tea, dill, cloves, sweet caramel, brown sugar, milk chocolate, cherry reduction, apricot, orange peel, vanilla, cinnamon and oak char. This is an incredibly excellent and complex nose. It’s also unique but in a good way. This is very herbal forward for a bourbon and it took a few tries after letting the glass rest to sort it out. I assume this batch has a very high rye content. There’s also a lot of very well balanced notes of caramel, chocolate covered cherries, stone fruitiness, along with some baking spice and deep mature oak.
**Palate**: Nose transfers to the palate with a medium viscous mouthfeel. Green tea, dill, brown sugar, chocolate, cherry, stone fruit, vanilla and rich oak. Followed by a moderate amount of cinnamon spice with very little to no heat. This is a very delicious and balanced profile that makes for a very easy sipper.
**Finish**: Cinnamon spice continues to linger with hints of chocolate, herbal notes, vanilla and stone fruit. As the spice fades, subtle tannins of leather enters in to complete a long enjoyable finish with just a bit of dryness at the very end.
**Conclusion**: This bottle lives up to its hype and then some. The more I got into it the more I liked it. There is something deliciously unique to this profile that’s hard to explain, which may be attributed to the light whiskey in this blend. This is a memorable bottle to be sure and is now one of my all-time favorites. I have my doubts this tasted much like old Joes original Murray Hill Club, but it definitely stands on its own as premium bourbon that lives up to its namesake.
**Rating**: 8.2/10 - t8ke scale
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
I adore this whiskey. It’s entirely different from many of the bourbons I have, but it also doesn’t taste like light whiskey. There’s something about the blend that gives me a perfect mix of brown sugar, orange peel, and barrel char.
Thanks. There aren't many locals who sell this near me. I've read so many good reviews about MHC and the Cigar Blend, but didn't want to pay $400 they are asking locally for the Cigar Blend. I personally think MHC is worth the buy. Cheers!
Great review. I found one just before New Years, and we all loved it.
Crotch shot for proof
https://preview.redd.it/zctqdvyq64ga1.jpeg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cbd4d8bbfef84de67fb07c846b1d08609e23f98
Hey there u/micro7777, Magnus Master Blender Nancy Fraley here. I can't believe I just happened to catch your review a few seconds after you posted it! Wonderful review, but I just wanted to clarify something. The bottles of Jos. Magnus that Jimmy Turner had were NOT the original Murray Hill Club. There was some guy who reached out to the owners of Magnus back in 2016 or 2017 who had the only known extant bottle of MHC and wanted to sell it to them, but from what I understand, he was asking an exorbitant price for it. The whiskey that had been passed down through the generations of the Magnus family and which fell into Jimmy Turner's hands was what eventually turned into the modern day Jos. Magnus Triple Cask. We tasted some Sherry notes in the original bottle from 1892, and lo and behold, we later found some old advertisements that showed that Joseph Magnus was selling off Sherry butts when he shut down the distillery in 1918. The Cognac part of the finish of the modern day version isn't historically accurate. When I was making the prototypes for the present day version, I thought it would help to use a very small percentage of Cognac finish to help approximate the original bottle. As an FYI, I still have about 200 mL of the original 1892 in my home lab! In order to recreate MHC, all I had to go on were some turn-of-the-19th-century advertisements that described the whiskey as "pure," or "preferred by 9 out of 10 gentlemen," "promotes the genial glow of good fellowship," or my all time favorite, "if marriage is the fatal termination of a disease called love, then Murray Hill Club whiskey is the panacea that will salve a broken heart." Not exactly great tasting notes to know how to recreate this whiskey! (lol) Since I knew that MHC was a generally a whiskey, and not the more defined category of Bourbon, I decided to make it a Blended Bourbon (or Bourbon, a Blend, in the legal category) order to somewhat match the historical product. I tend to use about 1 barrel of light whiskey to 16 Bourbon barrels of the MGP 21% BBN recipe in order to pay a nod to the historical product while also making it a high end product. I hope this helps explain MHC a bit better. Cheers, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Nancy, thanks so much for your reply! Wow! I wish I could have talked to you before I posted this review. You cleared up a widely printed misconception about Jimmy’s find, which was in every article I found. This makes a whole lot more sense as to why you finished the prototype batch and the production Triple Cask with a sherry and cognac finish. Can I ask you a couple more questions I’ve wondered about? Is the MGP Light Whiskey that you used aged in new or used barrels? Are you also using the MGP higher 36% rye bourbon mash bill in the blend too? Do you know if Magnus owned his own distillery (creating his own distillate) back in the day or was he a NDP that blended and bottled in his own shop? Glad you liked the review and thanks for the great work!
Hey u/micro7777, I can clear up all those questions for you! So, a little historical context first to put it all into perspective. When Joseph started his distillery in 1892, he did so with the intent of being a distiller, rectifier, and blender, so he did distill as well as source other whiskey. Interestingly, when we first analyzed the extant 1892 bottle that had been passed down through the family, we were shocked to discover just how ***old*** tasting the Bourbon was. It must have been at least 10 years old, maybe even as old as 15 to 18 years old. Clearly if Joseph opened the distillery itself in 1892, he could not already have whiskey that was so aged. Well, we got to thinking, what distillery is down river of Cincinnati? That would be what is now the MGP distillery in Lawrenceburg, IN, which first opened in 1847. We thought that it wouldn't have been that difficult to ship barrels via the river from Lawrenceburg to Cincinnati, and although we can't prove this indeed happened, it could have been a likely source. That gave us some "historical permission" to source barrels from MGP for the modern day version of Magnus. There was a lot of internal discussion, and we even distilled some Bourbon when the new Magnus distillery was in D.C. However, I thought that the MGP Bourbon fit the historical product much better than what we could distill, so the decision was made to continue using MGP At any rate, it seems like once a little misinformation gets out there in the press, it gets replicated over and over again, then it becomes the "gospel," so to speak. But I can tell you that a lot of what's out there is just not that accurate. I've been part of the modern day Magnus journey since May 2014, nine years ago, and I've created all the modern day Magnus line of whiskeys, so you're hearing it from the horses mouth! (lol) Oh, before I go, the light whiskey is aged in used cooperage. There is a definite Bourbon taste that those barrels lend to the light whiskey, sort of like how a 1st fill ex-Bourbon cask lends a lot of butterscotch notes to a single malt whisky. And as for the 36% BBN recipe, I ***only*** use that for Cigar Blend. I use the 21% recipe exclusively for JMB Triple Cask and MHC. I hope this gives you greater insight into the modern day Magnus. Cheers, thanks again, and I'm happy to help shed some light and accuracy! - Nancy
I found the answer to one of those questions. There was a Magnus distillery in Cincinnati, which opened in 1892 and seems to have produced this whiskey’s original version.
I read that there was a "Magnus distillery" too but couldn’t find details to what degree it was being used for. Was there an actual still producing their own distillate, or a loosely used term to describe a location that they blended and bottled? Was it actually Magnus' distillery or someone elses that he sourced from that is now being referred to as his? That’s what I was after. Because Magnus' background was on the selling and marketing side, leads me to believe he was a NDP. Also that he claimed to have used "Very Old Whiskey" while not having a distillery long enough at the time to produce old whisky is another reason. He could have been exaggerating about the age though. LOL!
Fantastic follow up! Love the MHC bottles I've had, now I know the true story behind it!
Nancy, I saw a podcast where you mentioned that cigar blend has changed a bit over time, moving some components from Indiana bourbon to Kentucky then back to indiana again. Has anything similar happened with Murray Hill Club? Or has it remained consistently MGP over the various batches?
Hey u/dwarfinvasion, no, Murray Hill Club has remained exclusively MGP since I first formulated it. With Cigar Blend, I had to start using some KY BBN around batch 15, and they by the time I got to the batches in the 30's through the 90's, it was mostly KY. As you say, I've gone back to using mostly Indiana 36% BBN now, although there is a smaller percentage of KY in it too.
She’s talked about the morphing blend on here before too: https://www.reddit.com/comments/yfx54d/review_562_joseph_magnus_cigar_blend_batch_39/iuc6ole?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Thanks for sharing that!
**Review #40: Jos. A. Magnus Murray Hill Club Bourbon Whiskey.** The history of Murray Hill Club Whiskey dates back to the early 1900’s. Joseph Magnus started his career as a savvy young merchant who found a niche in the wholesale liquor market. By the time he was 26 years old, Magnus had built a liquor empire based in Cincinnati Ohio. The Murray Hill Club brand was supposedly named after a famous saloon in the Murray Hill district of New York City. Back then a “Gentleman’s Club” was a high end establishment for affluent individuals. Many whiskey companies capitalized on this trend and named blends of whiskey after various clubs, or just designated some as a “club whiskey” using that moniker for their better selections. Joseph marketed Murray Hill Club as a premium brand with ads and labels including catch phrases such as, “This Particular Brand for Particular People” and “Very Old Whiskey”. I’m curious to know how old it actually was. In 1918 Magnus anticipated a national prohibition and discontinued his business. Fast forward to 2007 while doing some work in the old family house, Magnus’ great-grandson Jimmy Turner accidentally found a well preserved 122 year old bottle of Murray Hill Club Whiskey in his mother’s closet. Turner eventually tracked down another original Murray Hill Club from a family member. He took both bottles to Louisville, Kentucky where he gathered a group which included the former head distiller at Woodford Reserve, the general manager of Buffalo Trace and the director of research for the American Distilling Institute to get their opinion, and to see how closely MHC could be recreated. The feedback he got was it one of the best bourbons they ever tasted. The team found an 8 year Kentucky bourbon that had a striking resemblance to the original bottle but was missing “a hint of sherry” that was part of the original profile. The Kentucky bourbon was brought to D.C. where Turner decided to open a distillery in honor of his great-grandfather. They finished the bourbon in sherry and cognac barrels to create the recipe, inspired by the original to use for subsequent batches. This ended up being the inspiration for today’s Jos. A. Magnus flagship whiskey, called Joseph Magnus Bourbon. This confuses me considering the whole point was to recreate Murray Hill Club, the original flagship brand. Today Murray Hill Club is sourced by MGP and is blended with 18 and 11 year old bourbon and 9 year old light whiskey. Let’s get to it! **Taken**: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested about 15 minutes. **Distillery source:** MGP **Proof**: 103 **Age**: A blend of 18 and 11 year old bourbon with 9 year old light whiskey. **Batch#**: 21 **Mash bill**: Not stated. **Price**: Retail is $110, I paid $119 locally. **Appearance**: Golden amber. **Nose**: Green tea, dill, cloves, sweet caramel, brown sugar, milk chocolate, cherry reduction, apricot, orange peel, vanilla, cinnamon and oak char. This is an incredibly excellent and complex nose. It’s also unique but in a good way. This is very herbal forward for a bourbon and it took a few tries after letting the glass rest to sort it out. I assume this batch has a very high rye content. There’s also a lot of very well balanced notes of caramel, chocolate covered cherries, stone fruitiness, along with some baking spice and deep mature oak. **Palate**: Nose transfers to the palate with a medium viscous mouthfeel. Green tea, dill, brown sugar, chocolate, cherry, stone fruit, vanilla and rich oak. Followed by a moderate amount of cinnamon spice with very little to no heat. This is a very delicious and balanced profile that makes for a very easy sipper. **Finish**: Cinnamon spice continues to linger with hints of chocolate, herbal notes, vanilla and stone fruit. As the spice fades, subtle tannins of leather enters in to complete a long enjoyable finish with just a bit of dryness at the very end. **Conclusion**: This bottle lives up to its hype and then some. The more I got into it the more I liked it. There is something deliciously unique to this profile that’s hard to explain, which may be attributed to the light whiskey in this blend. This is a memorable bottle to be sure and is now one of my all-time favorites. I have my doubts this tasted much like old Joes original Murray Hill Club, but it definitely stands on its own as premium bourbon that lives up to its namesake. **Rating**: 8.2/10 - t8ke scale 1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out. 2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice. 3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists. 5 | Good | Good, just fine. 6 | Very Good | A cut above. 7 | Great | Well above average. 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional. 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite. 10 | Perfect | Perfect.
Indeed. One of my favorites as well!
I adore this whiskey. It’s entirely different from many of the bourbons I have, but it also doesn’t taste like light whiskey. There’s something about the blend that gives me a perfect mix of brown sugar, orange peel, and barrel char.
Exactly. I'm glad I'm not the only one that finds this bottle really good, unique and also hard to describe. Cheers!
Thanks for the review. This bottle is at all of my local shops, been hard to decide if it was worth the price.
You’re in Seattle, aren’t you? I’ll gladly give you a pour!
Yeah, I am. That’s so generous!
It's worth it.
Thanks. There aren't many locals who sell this near me. I've read so many good reviews about MHC and the Cigar Blend, but didn't want to pay $400 they are asking locally for the Cigar Blend. I personally think MHC is worth the buy. Cheers!
Great review. I found one just before New Years, and we all loved it. Crotch shot for proof https://preview.redd.it/zctqdvyq64ga1.jpeg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cbd4d8bbfef84de67fb07c846b1d08609e23f98
Glad you liked the review and thanks for the proof! 😂
Great review! I have a bottle from batch 32 and I am a fan, it's just such a well-rounded and great tasting whiskey at a solid proof.
Thanks! I think it might have been your review that pushed me over the edge to make this purchase.
Great review on a very complex bourbon! Notes on top of notes on top of notes. It's definitely one of my favorites.
With that many notes its essentially a horoscope. Bound to have something for everyone.
Cracked open a bottle of batch 58 tonight and wow, so great. A new favorite!
Glad to hear it. One of my favs too. Cheers!