Joseph Magnus History
In 2007, the great-grandson of pre-Prohibition whiskey magnate Joseph Magnus discovered an unopened bottle of 122-year old whiskey while cleaning out a closet. Family lore had always remembered Joseph Magnus for the pioneer he was in the whiskey business at the turn of the century, but the family was shocked to discover their ancestors had protected and passed down what is believed to be the very first bottle of Joseph A. Magnus whiskey ever made, dated May 1892. To make sense of this rare find, the family agreed to extract 100ml from the original bottle and assembled a roundtable of industry veterans in Louisville in 2014 to taste it. They were stunned to discover it to be one of the greatest bourbons they had ever tasted.
Jos. A. Magnus & Co. was re-established in 2015 . Today, using the same blending and finishing techniques Joseph Magnus employed 130+ years ago, Magnus Master Blender Nancy Fraley finishes 9-year old bourbon in a triple-cask finishing process using Oloroso Sherry, Pedro Ximénez and Cognac casks. The result is that we have come as close a possible to what was in that original 122-year old bottle.