Punch 898 (PPPRW)*

[JoeyBones777]

AGot this in the Christmas sampler and decided to smoke it for my birthday which is technically tomorrow. 

It had some under filled section which caused some tunneling, bad burn and moments of poor smoke output. The flavors when I got some were great. Creamy nutty flavors similar to peanut butter or a combo of nut butters, a floral sweetness, some earth, clove, twang and leather. I know the flavors were heavily affected by the under fill, relights and heavy puffing at times. Unfortunately, due to technical performance, I have to give it an 87. I still enjoyed the flavors even though I had to wrestle with it until the final 3rd which was properly packed.

[Raskol]

Nice pictures & review. Happy Birthday too...

[PrairieSmoke]

Ugh, stinks you had construction issues -- its such a great cigar! Happy B-Day nevertheless ?

[JoeyBones777]

Yeah, I was disappointed in the construction but enjoyed it nonetheless. I also have the Sir Winnie waiting in the wings for my actual birthday tomorrow!

[rcarlson]

1 hour ago, JoeyBones777 said:

Yeah, I was disappointed in the construction but enjoyed it nonetheless. I also have the Sir Winnie waiting in the wings for my actual birthday tomorrow!

Excellent choice.    

[Goodfortune]

Thanks for the review and nice pictures ?. Sorry to hear about the performance issues. 

[JoeyBones777]

12 hours ago, db13 said:

I've smoked a few of these already and although it's a very good smoke I don't see what all the fuss is about. I'd rather smoke a Siglo III. I guess still to early to make a final judgement.

For me, when I got good draws on it the flavors were fantastic. If it had performed for the entirety of the stick it probably would have been a 95 or 96. The final 3rd had almost no bitterness even though I certainly overheated it numerous times and given its youth...but it is all subjective. Up until I got the Christmas sampler I haven't liked any Cohiba except for the BHK 52 I was kindly gifted 3 years ago.