Punch Super Selection No. 1 URL NOV 01 (PQDRW)

[Nekhyludov]

The Super Selection No. 1 feel great in the hand. It's a classic long corona, of which very few remain in production across the entire Habanos portfolio. The wrapper on this sample is a bit rustic. It appears to be thin and tensile; some of the darker binder is visible beneath parts of the wrapper. But it also has several veins along its length, and the wrapper wrinkles up around them. The color is pale and tawny. But the texture is smooth and consistent, and a bit of sheen remains. The aroma at cold is lightly woody with a bit of a sour note. I opt for a deep V-cut to head off any potential draw issues, which I'm always suspicious of with cigars from this era. The foot ignites easily, but the draw thereafter is slightly too firm. Not plugged, but requiring a little more effort than I prefer. Smoke output is average, and the ash is a flaky brown gray.

The first third opens with a base flavor of slightly sweet forest floor - dirt, moss, and a vegetal note. From there, the cold aroma is almost perfectly mirrored on the palate. The profile takes on a slightly sour, wet hay aspect that overtakes most of the base flavor.

Through the first part of the second third, and a bit past the midpoint, the flavors have not changed at all. Which is ... not great. But at least it isn't getting worse - no char or harshness. But also not even a bare hint of any Punch DNA. The flavors are very mild and superficial. But the performance so far has been excellent, which is no small feat for a 2001.

By the final third, the sour note has acquired a bit of character, becoming sharper and taking on a slight salt aspect. The combination almost approximates something like citrus, but not quite. It remains stuck in a flavor more like raw bread dough that's been left out too long.

All in all, this is a fairly typical representation of cigars from this era. It tastes generically like 2001. To give credit where due, the construction was above average. But this cigar just never had the benefit of quality tobacco, and never really had a chance because of it.

[PigFish]

Thanks for sharing. Me, I love '01 cigars... 

-tP

[Sudzdaddy]

14 hours ago, PigFish said:

Thanks for sharing. Me, I love '01 cigars... 

-tP

And '00, AND '99...  ?

[Brian24]

Whoa. That’s old. Also a really good looking cigar.

[PigFish]

1 hour ago, Sudzdaddy said:

And '00, AND '99...  ?

It may very well be your choices and how you store them.

I don't think I can find a finer cigar than a '00 Party Seleccion Privada #1. Difficult to smoke, yes, but the Upmann Lonsdale from '01 was a masterpiece. People now rave about the QdO Coronas... Ever have an '01? Cannot be touched by today's cigar!

'99 Monte Esp... a dream! '01 RAPC, to die for!!! 

I could go on and on... but I was smoking mid and small ring cigars mostly and not hunting for CoRo's, which IMHO are still second rate cigars! Yeah, I had some losers too... 

Matter of taste and opinion only! -Cheers! -tP

[Fugu]

Thanks for the review. I got (have to say 'once' got, there are only one or two sticks remaining...) a SUA Feb 02 cab. Boxed only three months later than yours. While not entirely impossible, rather unlikely to be a very different batch of tobacco harvests gone into it. And that is virtually the very opposite of what you descibe. Intense, deep and strong. With an aftertaste lingering on for the rest of the day, almost too much for my liking. I think, at least in this case, it really has more to do with production variability, and - in particular for a cigar of that age - its whereabouts and storage history. "Mild" is the last attribute I had ever been associating with the SS1. Siding with Piggy here, I'd never dismiss the '01 vintage, there were some true gems to be found in there.

[TheMonk]

Very nice review, and I agree with your thoughts. Production during that dark age was, for me, very sub par. Luckily it didn't last long!

[Bucky McSwensen]

Nice review!  Love the critical takedowns as warnings to us succeptable to buying blind.

[Philc2001]

I’ve smoked many of these SS1s from that era. It once occupied a large section of my humidor, and together with the SS2 it was a staple for a decade.

There is a terrific elegance and balance to the SS1. A beautiful classic. It is a shame that this format has been abandoned.

Your review is reminiscent because of the almost translucent appearance of the pale wrappers, and the look and feel of the cigar. My recollection of the flavor profile is somewhat different, and I bet I have smoked this very same code, from the same era. But that is the nature of cigars.

Thanks for a great review and a lovely flashback.


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