Thursday, September 2, 2021

Punch Cigars Diablo Diabolus in Review

lo-fi & lovely

Punch Cigars Diablo Diabolus in Review

WRAPPER: Ecuadorian Sumatra Oscuro
BINDER: USA Connecticut Broadleaf
FILLER: Honduras, Nicaraguan

BLENDER: Abdel J Fernandez
MANUFACTURER: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.

FORMAT: Robusto Extra  (51/4x54) "Diabolus"
ORIGIN: Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Medium-full/Full

NOTES:
Leather | Beef Jerky | Black peppercorn

Wiry sinewy notes. Patent leather, a polished piece of wood furniture. Shiny notes. Stiff. Under-belly drives as high as Cheech &/or Chong in that one flick I plan on never seeing. Black walnut, shells and all. A dried blackstrap molasses. Beef jerky adds to savoriness. Hard-hitting but thin notes that seem to vanish quickly. Stick & move, stick & move. Anise, fennel, and loads of accommodating black peppercorn fill out the pepper-spice portion. I get the feeling cosmetic strength is at-play. A bodybuilder, not a powerlifter. I also sense some confusion.

The middling is fairly empty and somewhat problematic beyond that. It's primaries all the way down--as lessening echoes of themselves. The only real additions to the back-end are motor oil and a thin layer of creosote. Via progression, these chemical aspects threaten to commandeer the profile. At the 1/2 a new manure note enters into the under-belly and helps fend off further unpleasantness--mostly. Yes, cow-shit is the high-light t/here. I'm confused as to intent, it would seem strength is the goal but it's a somewhat odd take on it.

Performance-wise this offering shines in all aspects. A slight ding is that it burns ::: very ::: slow and guts would overtake skin if allowed to sit too long between puffs. Nevertheless, excellent draw, dead-even and razor-thin char-line. Copious smoky-smoke w/ a bitter-sweet leather/wood room-note. I also smell Italian (burnt) roasted coffee beans which somehow entirely miss the palate. Lest I am remiss: complexity is there more-so than is nuance but neither are in great quantities. There's maybe a sarsaparilla hint on the far-finish as it all winds down.

TASTE: B
DRAW: A
BURN: B+
BUILD: A-

FINAL GRADE: B
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

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::: very :::