Jos. A. Magnus & Co

Jos. A. Magnus & Co. is a bourbon house with a genuine pre-Prohibition pedigree, shuttered for nearly a century, then revived by the founder's own family and rebuilt through meticulous blending rather than a still of its own making the whiskey from scratch. Every bottle carries the name of a 19th-century Cincinnati distiller reconstructed for a modern shelf, and the result has become one of the more decorated sourced-bourbon programs in the category.

History & Heritage

Joseph A. Magnus founded his namesake distillery in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1892, building a whiskey business that ran until Prohibition forced it to shut down whiskey production in 1918. The company sat dormant for nearly a century until 2015, when Magnus' own great-grandson, Jimmy Turner, re-established Jos. A. Magnus & Co. in Washington, D.C., initially operating from a facility at 2052 West Virginia Ave NE. That first iteration of the modern brand focused on blending and finishing bourbon sourced from an undisclosed Indiana distillery (commonly understood in the industry to be MGP), rather than distilling from scratch.

In October 2020, Jos. A. Magnus & Co. relocated its operations from Washington, D.C. to Holland, Michigan, where it now operates and produces spirits at Coppercraft Distillery LLC. The former D.C. space was subsequently taken over by Bo & Ivy Distillers. As of July 2026, Coppercraft Distillery, and by extension the ground Jos. A. Magnus & Co. now works from, is owned by the Windquest Group, a Michigan-based investment firm associated with the DeVos family.

The Whiskey

Jos. A. Magnus & Co.'s whiskey program is built on sourced straight bourbon, typically cited in the 8-to-12-year range, drawn from a mash bill of roughly 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley. What separates the brand from a simple sourced-and-bottled operation is Master Blender Nancy Fraley's finishing work, executed through a "coupe mere," or mother-blend, system designed to hold flavor consistent across batches.

The flagship, Joseph Magnus Bourbon Triple Cask, is finished across Oloroso Sherry, Pedro Ximénez Sherry, and Cognac casks, with the bourbon split among the three cask types before being blended back together. Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend Bourbon layers 11- and 18-year-old whiskeys, sometimes joined by 9-, 14-to-16-, and 20-year-old bourbons, then finishes the blend in Armagnac brandy barrels, built specifically to stand up to a cigar. Joseph Magnus Murray Hill Club Bourbon blends 18- and 11-year-old bourbon with 9-year-old light whiskey, an attempt to recreate a pre-Prohibition-era spirit style. The house also produces Vigilant Gin, a London-style dry gin, alongside a Vigilant Navy Strength Gin.

Why It Matters

Few bourbon brands can claim direct descent from a working 19th-century distiller, let alone a revival led by that founder's own great-grandson. Jos. A. Magnus & Co. has used that story as a foundation rather than a gimmick, backing it with a blending and finishing program that has drawn consistent recognition on the competition circuit: Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2016, 2017, 2021, and 2025 for the flagship Triple Cask bourbon, Double Gold and Platinum finishes for the Cigar Blend Bourbon across 2019 through 2025, and Double Gold plus Best of Category honors for the Murray Hill Club Bourbon at the American Distilling Institute in 2024. For those who appreciate good whiskey and want to understand how careful finishing can reshape a sourced spirit, the range offers three distinct case studies from the same base stock.

Visiting the Distillery

Jos. A. Magnus & Co. offers tours of its Holland, Michigan facility for $20 per person, including a select pour of one of the brand's signature spirits.