Monday, May 15, 2023

Three Recent Cigar Bands Reviewed and Ranked | Punch, CAO, La Gloria Cubana Cigars

Three Recent Cigar Bands Reviewed and Ranked | Punch (Spring Roll), CAO (Mortal Coil), La Gloria Cubana (Serie R) Cigars

Please see both the title of this post and its subsequent (mainly) repetitive subtitle for any bearing you may need as to expectations here. Also please note that the cigar names listed below are links to their full reviews here on KM. Thank you and have a wonderful read.

Punch Spring Roll

Utterly lacking in 'Spring Roll' emblazonment. I suppose it is a bit much to ask of the petite smoke to tote a secondary band and all that on a single band might scan as a tick crowded. Nevertheless, the design is spot-on enough to make me think of my favorite scene in A Christmas Story. I might be led to believe there is a certain amount of retro chic here then. Cheeky!

I feel good looking at this thing, and good fingering its texture. Not just for the aforementioned reason but because it balances so well. Minimal but a-plenty and in an uncluttered way, really drives its point home. Or perhaps delivers it on a banana-seat bicycle or in an old jalopy. Oh, and it's red, an eye-catching hue. Clean white embossment. I'll take the number 4 meal. Comes with Gold Medal.

CAO Mortal Coil

"Oh, I get it. Coil." The band is 7.5in. long and coils around and down much of the cigar. I usually prefer a minimum amount of covered-concealed top-leaf but I get it. Coil. Pretty cute. Copper on black. Embossed. "Aracana" is a bit not readily read Old English style font but is apropos, I suppose. Punny gets points around these parts.

The CAO appears as typically branded. "Mortal Coil" is a bit boringly rendered. Definitely eye-catching all told. I feel the load was shot on the coil idea with nothing left in the think tank for the remaining design. Still nifty, memorable, and deserving of a Silver Medal. Did you hear about the olympian from ______? He was so proud of his gold medal that he had it bronzed.

La Gloria Cubana No. 8 Maduro
(primary band)

My favorite thing about this band is that it doesn't employ some sort of extender to envelop its 70RG girth. The top portion is a title belt traditional shape that extends downward into a large black background and ends flat. The belt is tres trad gold with medallions and senorita. Filigree. Decent. Pedestrian but dressed in full civilian regalia. If that's a thing.

What bothers me is the black background portion."SERIE R" floats untethered; too small. There is some pattern-work design in dark grey on the black that might've played better a bit lighter or maybe left out. It scans like two different bands conjoined and somewhat clashing. I do like the ridges on the golden bottom border. I hope a Bronze Medal doesn't clash with all that.

Hey, I didn't even mean to put these in order!

::: very :::