SewerRanger
Member
Ring Gauge: 50
Length: 5.2"
Filler: Nicaragua (from a special reserve tobacco grown in Ometepe)
Binder: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
I don't generally smoke Punch cigars. For me, Punch will always be associated with gas stations and liquor stores (maybe it's a Baltimore thing, but these seem to be the cigar of choice for making blunts) so when I got an Upper Cut in the mail, I was curious to see what the Punch hoopla was about. When it arrived it was a nice looking cigar with a 2 part band on it. The middle band was a crazy gold affair that proudly proclaimed itself an "Upper Cut" and then a bit more ashamedly admitted to also being a Punch - it had a very boxing title belt feel to it. The top band was a neat looking mountain vista and the words Ometepe. My research has shown that this particular cigar was made with a specially grown tobacco from the Ometepe region of Nicaragua. Specifically it's made from tobacco grown on (and I'm not making this up) a Volcanic island in the middle of a lake. While it seems like a bit much to hunt down tobacco like that, the end product is a seriously tasty little cigar. The pre-light check over reveals a veiny brownish red cigar that was free of blemishes and had a nice sweet cherry smell. It's nothing special to look at, but heh, I'm smoking it not putting it on display and the flavor is where this delightful stick really shines. That dark cherry smell creeps in as a dominate flavor with your initial puffs and gives way to an almost clover like grassy flavor with hints of old leather and coffee. This odd combination of flavors sort of dance around each other for most of the first half of the stick. One puff would feature dark cherry and the next would be heavy on coffee. It made for a delightful taste combination that lingered long after each puff. About half way through the cigar a deep rich earthy tobacco flavor jumped in to change things up a bit. At this point the kaleidoscope of flavors had found their rhythm and balanced each other nicely. There was the initial sweetish cherry and grass flavor. that was soon smoothed over with the bitter coffee and finally finished off with a rich tobacco after taste. In lieu of the bitter coffee and tobacco, the final third of this cigar presented a nice wood taste. It's hard to describe it, but it wasn't the usual ceder, but more of an oakish flavor then anything else. The wood became dominate (as the cigar also jumped from a mid to full strength) and the dark cherry rounded out each puff. These flavors stayed true to the end and created what is definitely one of the more unique cigars I've had. At only about $5 - $6 bucks a stick, this refreshingly unique flavored Punch is a steal and will be part of my regular cigar lineup.
Length: 5.2"
Filler: Nicaragua (from a special reserve tobacco grown in Ometepe)
Binder: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
I don't generally smoke Punch cigars. For me, Punch will always be associated with gas stations and liquor stores (maybe it's a Baltimore thing, but these seem to be the cigar of choice for making blunts) so when I got an Upper Cut in the mail, I was curious to see what the Punch hoopla was about. When it arrived it was a nice looking cigar with a 2 part band on it. The middle band was a crazy gold affair that proudly proclaimed itself an "Upper Cut" and then a bit more ashamedly admitted to also being a Punch - it had a very boxing title belt feel to it. The top band was a neat looking mountain vista and the words Ometepe. My research has shown that this particular cigar was made with a specially grown tobacco from the Ometepe region of Nicaragua. Specifically it's made from tobacco grown on (and I'm not making this up) a Volcanic island in the middle of a lake. While it seems like a bit much to hunt down tobacco like that, the end product is a seriously tasty little cigar. The pre-light check over reveals a veiny brownish red cigar that was free of blemishes and had a nice sweet cherry smell. It's nothing special to look at, but heh, I'm smoking it not putting it on display and the flavor is where this delightful stick really shines. That dark cherry smell creeps in as a dominate flavor with your initial puffs and gives way to an almost clover like grassy flavor with hints of old leather and coffee. This odd combination of flavors sort of dance around each other for most of the first half of the stick. One puff would feature dark cherry and the next would be heavy on coffee. It made for a delightful taste combination that lingered long after each puff. About half way through the cigar a deep rich earthy tobacco flavor jumped in to change things up a bit. At this point the kaleidoscope of flavors had found their rhythm and balanced each other nicely. There was the initial sweetish cherry and grass flavor. that was soon smoothed over with the bitter coffee and finally finished off with a rich tobacco after taste. In lieu of the bitter coffee and tobacco, the final third of this cigar presented a nice wood taste. It's hard to describe it, but it wasn't the usual ceder, but more of an oakish flavor then anything else. The wood became dominate (as the cigar also jumped from a mid to full strength) and the dark cherry rounded out each puff. These flavors stayed true to the end and created what is definitely one of the more unique cigars I've had. At only about $5 - $6 bucks a stick, this refreshingly unique flavored Punch is a steal and will be part of my regular cigar lineup.
