Punch Punch OPG MAR 14 WRC

[TypicalSituation]

Punch Punch OPG MAR 14

Pale wrapper but smelling glorious. Sweet tobacco and hay.

Double V cut from my xikar v cutter due to a firm draw on the first cut.

Prelight is hay and a cedar note.

1st third : smooth and mild, great amount of smoke. Big cedar notes, amplified by the reteohale. Razor sharp burn. Glorious amounts of milk chocolate start enveloping the tongue. Yes please!

Alright, must slow down. An inch in in under 10 minutes... Way faster than my normal pace. Milk Chocolate continues, reminding me why I have multiple boxes in the humidor and OLH. I always set a cigar down between puffs but I'm typing this one handed.... Glorious.

Second third: milk chocolate is still, as rob would say, delivering in spades. It almost seems unfair how good this stick is. A bit of latte is creeping in on the finish. Earthy goodness remains after the exhale. Latte weaves in and our now, with the cedar building in strength. Now the mill chocolate is back. It's like a hide and seek game of flavors, and I'm here to play. This mix of flavors along with what I consider one of the best sized Cigars is what I love about the punch punch.

Final third: the latte fades and it becomes a solid balance of milk chocolate, cedar and earth. I must admit, a punch punch usually takes me about 90 minutes to smoke. I finished this off in about 60. Smooth reteohale the entire way through.

Sorry no final pic, camera flash doesn't work with low battery on the phone!

If I could sum up this cigar, it would be this; a quality single origin milk chocolate bar, perhaps from Guatemala, being eaten with a Sumatran coffee latte. Yes, that is what this punch punch is all about, and why I reach for it so frequent.

[torsion]

Bloody nice review, I've yet to try any Punch at all and after this I'll be on the search for some singles to try!!!

[TypicalSituation]

Bloody nice review, I've yet to try any Punch at all and after this I'll be on the search for some singles to try!!!

Seriously, grab some. Heck of a good smoke. I can't get over how well they smoke fresh.

[Optic101]

Nice review, you got a box dripping with chocolate.

[Rye]

Good review!

[busdriver]

Awesome! Makes me want to try this stick!

[hoffmr3]

Love it when a review makes me hungry... Well done!

Just curious - what does age do to those flavors? Is the sweet spot inside of 3 years?

[DropTopDee]

couple more days and get to light mine!

[zappaFREAK]

You had me simply drooling for one!

[RolandHeadlessGunner]

Just curious - what does age do to those flavors? Is the sweet spot inside of 3 years?

Punch Punch definitely benefit from aging, but it's true they are fairly smokable when young. Get enough to enjoy them at each stage of their development. It's worth remembering that we are sitting on top of two of the best vintage years for Cuban cigars in a long time and prices will continue to rise.

[TypicalSituation]

Love it when a review makes me hungry... Well done!

Just curious - what does age do to those flavors? Is the sweet spot inside of 3 years?

I've smoked a ton inside the 2 year mark, that's where I've enjoyed them. I had a mid 2000s given to me that was good, very elegant, oolong tea, cedar, pencil lead, a very very light touch of latte. It was good in its own right, but I much prefer then right now.

[ElPuro]

Did you get any fruity notes? My box from AUM Nov 14 has a pronounced fruity flavor (at least the first few). Very enjoyable.

[TomF]

One of my favorites. I often get peanuts from a Punch Punch. Beautiful sweet smoke and lots of it. I also find that I have to be very careful handling, cutting and taking off the band. The wrappers on these are very delicate and tear easily.

[JohnS]

Great review! I'm also waiting to let mine rest before smoking but I'm so tempted to sample one sooner than later!

[PapaDisco]

I'll concur that the 2014's are very approachable young, and I've a couple of boxes of the OPG (one '14 and one earlier IIRC) and they also came with a bit of a pale wrapper with a bit of green hue. Normally something I'd shy away from but the Punch Punch didn't seem to care and delivered a wonderful smoke.

However, in my limited experience, these sticks really start to shine at 5 years. They tend to be blended very full and dark (the OPG not withstanding) and I've had '09's that tasted like a dark chocolate bar dipped in molasses and then coated in honey. Mind blowing. Construction has been unpredictable (the 14's seemed to have this fixed) and so perhaps the wider variation in palate that we all get with the Punch Punch has more to do with variability in the blending from year to year?

[irratebass]

Punch Punch is one that is def on my list. Nice review!!!

[TypicalSituation]

Did you get any fruity notes? My box from AUM Nov 14 has a pronounced fruity flavor (at least the first few). Very enjoyable.

I don't get any fruit notes from the ones I've smoked recently. I can remember one that was extremely fresh that had a bit of citrus zing, but it was there and gone, didn't stick around. That's really the only time I've gotten fruit.

One of my favorites. I often get peanuts from a Punch Punch. Beautiful sweet smoke and lots of it. I also find that I have to be very careful handling, cutting and taking off the band. The wrappers on these are very delicate and tear easily.

Agreed on the pale wrappers being very fragile. This box was a PE box from Rob. It wasn't nearly as pale as some wrappers I've seen in general, just not as dark as the box below it

I've gotten peanuts frequently in the punch punch, but this one was all chocolate, definitely they sweetest punch I've had to date. If they were all like this, it would give the scdlh a run for its money on my dessert cigar choice.

[saver]

Thanks for nice review