Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Punch Cigars Golden Era (Robusto) in Review

BRAND: Punch
BLEND: Golden Era

WRAPPER: Honduran (Cuban Seed) Corojo
BINDER: Honduran
FILLER: Honduran

FORMAT: Robusto
ORIGIN: Honduras (Fabrica de Puros Aladino)
INTENSITY: Medium

NOTES:

Very similar if not pretty dang identical to its Churchill iteration (link below). Here it's slightly saltier (salt) and a bit more punchy (white peppercorn). Buttery suede | Spices | Loam soil hold here as primaries as they did there. Some additional sweetness here (table sugar). Tangy pale-fuzzy stone fruit back-end there is more forward here. Ruddy complexion lesser-so here than there.

Construction/combustion-wise, this Robusto does not hold up to that Churchill. A far more wayward burn in the opening third. A less responsive draw. A more airy and uneven packing that gets fairly soft in its mid-section. Other than performance, I said it was nearly identical of a blend in both vitolas. It truly is, as most of the differences in terms of tasting notes are minute nit-pickery, which is kinda my forte. 

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

FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

My review of this blend in its Churchill format is HERE.

::: very :::