Fans of Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend who like nutty aromas will be particularly fond of Batch #16, which has taken on a lot of “rancio” notes on the nose and palate. Rancio is a much-prized yet elusive aroma found particularly in high end Cognacs, Armagnacs, and other brandies that were distilled with a lot of fatty acids. The aroma of “rancio” is technically the oxidized esters of fatty acids, of which Cigar Blend Batch #16 seems to have in abundance. It seems that this particular barrel was previously filled with an Armagnac that exhibited a lot of these type of notes, and so it has imparted these notes into the bourbon.

In this batch, which was finished in a 400 liter freshly dumped Armagnac cask, we find a lot of fruity top notes of with Medjool date and California Mission fig, stewed prunes in Armagnac syrup, along with ginger snap cookie, orange marmalade, Tawny Port, dark dried fruit notes of stewed prunes. There is also a tang of Roquefort cheese with a touch of Atlantic ocean brine, graphite from pencil shavings, and Turron de Alicante (Spanish almond nougat). We find this batch to be one of the most complex barrels that we’ve had to date, with an exceedingly long finish.