Punch Coronations, unknown (VVRW#2)

[Mrcpt]

I got this tubo as a single last summer. I’ve only smoked one other Punch before, a Punch Punch, and wasn’t too impressed, so I’m admittedly not expecting too much going into this review.  The wrapper has a rustic look and feel, somewhere between a Colorado and rosado, with a light sweet smell.  Draw was a bit snug, so much so that it needed some help with a draw poker. 

The first third started out a bit muted; the aroma is much stronger than the flavor on the draw or finish. Overall I’d still rate this as medium body.  About half an inch in the flavor really started to open up. The aroma became more sweet and hearty, while the draw and finish were earthy and meaty with a distinct mushroom note.

The rich sweet aroma continued into the second third, but there was a noted transition to stewed or baked fruits on the draw and finish, with a light saltiness coming and going.  There was another transition around the last third, but it wasn’t nearly as exciting as the previous one.  Just before the band, all of the flavor and aroma suddenly became muted and nearly disappeared.  At first I thought the tree pollen had finally gotten to me and nuked my palate, but even my wife, who’d graciously taken a puff or two earlier and identified similar notes, couldn’t pickup anything.

 Maybe the Torceador missed half a leaf of seco or ligero on the backfill, maybe I pulled out that tiny bit myself with the draw tool, or maybe the pollen managed to start affecting my wife’s palate at the exact time as mine. Who knows.. either way this cigar was fairly complex and enjoyable for the first two thirds, but the last third was so muted I couldn’t really tell if I was smoking anything. 

I like to use a one to five scale to rate cigars: 1 - would not smoke again; 2 - would smoke again; 3 - would buy singles; 4 - would buy a box; 5 - go deep on boxes.  I would rate this cigar a 2: I did enjoy the first two thirds and this was a pretty unique flavor profile, so I’d definitely smoke this again; I’m just not sure if I see myself buying any outside of a sale or some other deal. 
 

 

[Enduin]

Nice review! I've often wondered what causes the flavors in a cigar to become muted, as I've experienced that myself quite a few times as well... I keep going back and forth between thinking it has to do with the tobacco itself, maybe getting to a spot where there is simply different tobacco with less flavor, and thinking that it has to do with combustion (so RH of the smoking environment, the cigar internal RH, construction, etc). 

[Chucko8]

Nice review and pictures. Thanks

[RichG]

Nice review, and I like your rating scale. It seems effective and to the point. 

[moy71]

great rating scale.  simple.  i think i will change mine too.

[griller]

3 minutes ago, moy71 said:

great rating scale.  simple.  i think i will change mine too.

Right there with you! Think I'll adopt this method too.

OP, thanks for sharing.