Date: 10/21/08
Reviewer: langod
Cigar: Punch Champion
Size: 4.5 x 30-60
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra seed wrapper
Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua
Binder: Connecticut
Flavor: Medium to full bodied
Age: unknown, received in a PIF this week
Ambience: Outside on a deck, cool fall night.
Beverage: none
Appearance: This is an interestingly shaped cigar. Much like a perfecto, but with the widest part of the bulge concentrated about 1/3 from the foot end. Medium-dark brown wrapper, smooth, no major noticeable defects
Pre-Light: rich, pleasant, leather and chocolate smell. Good firm feel, no noticeable soft spots.
Clip: Clipped easily with my cheapie $1 guillotine. Took a few pre-light draws and noticed a strong coffee and sweet flavor. Delicious.
Draw: easy
1/3: An initial hit of spice for the first few puffs, mellowing into a smooth leather and nut flavor which reminded me of almond.
2/3: A thick flavorful smoke becomes apparent – after exhaling, a rich creamy toasty-ness coats the mouth. Subtle coffee flavor also.
3/3: Rich and getting a very toasted flavor. The nutty flavor is gone, leaving toasted leather and a slight burnt coffee bean essence. I recut the cigar going into the last third.
Burn: Easy to light and maintain. Needed a touchup as the burn got past the fattest part of the cigar
Ash: This cigar did not draw well after the ash grew to ¾”. The flavor profile started turning bitter also. I started knocking off the ash every several puffs and had no more problems with burn or flavor.
Strength: little effect until the end when I noticed a light but distinct nic buzz.
Finish: I smoked this well into the last third. Stayed pleasant all the way through.
Time: about 1 hour.
Impression: Excellent smoke, great flavor and very smooth and creamy. I loved the mouth feel of the rich smoke. Highly Recommended – I will be searching these out for my humidor.
[Reply]