I haven’t reviewed a cigar in a long while and I thought it might be fun to sit down with a favorite cigar and really try to dissect it. I picked a personal favorite of mine, the Punch RS11. This is a corona gorda, measuring 5.6 x 46. The box code is MGT FEB 07.
Appearance and prelight experience: the cigar has a few veins but still retains some of the oils and has a silky feel in the hand. There is also a very pleasant aroma of caramel coming off the cigar. It’s got some sponginess but no underfilled spots. This has the old school Punch band and is one of the very few old bands that I actually like less than the new version. The new bands have managed to take all the good stuff about the classic version and improve upon it in every way. I don’t believe in prelight draws and feel that they are stupid as fuck, so we’ll be skipping that. Let’s light this bitch.
First third: Immediately upon lighting there is spice, but nothing so harsh or boring as red pepper, more of a paprika sort of thing perhaps. After a couple of puffs that initial spice starts to fade to background with some woody flavors and a creaminess coming to the forefront. Some other spices come in and fade out but I can’t quite place what they are, though they are pleasant. Towards the end of the first third the wood comes and goes and a flavor I can only describe as saffron starts to dominate. Strength is almost nonexistent at this point, extremely mild.
Second third: the saffron has stuck around and some floral notes have joined in. Some other spices appear then go away as quickly as they come and I still can’t place them. The cigar has some issues with the burn line, but this has more to do with the sustained 10 mph wind then anything else I’m sure. That, along with the 85% humidity is causing me to chief on this thing a bit more than I should and a couple bitter and ashy notes pop up, so I let it sit for a minute before resuming and the more enjoyable profile kicks back in almost immediately. Strength has picked up a bit in this third, lets call it a mild plus.
Final third: a cedar note becomes the most dominate flavor toward the end of the 2nd third and the beginning of the final third. A creamy butteriness creeps in here and there and adds a nice complexity. As it goes on occasionally a floral note will show up as well. At just under and inch and half remaining the cigar gets really hot. I decided to let it sit for a minute or two and hope that some rest could save it, and thankfully it did. A quick touch up and its back in the game. Flavors remain the same until just over a half inch when its all cedar at this point. At just under a half inch, its way too hot and its time to let this one go. Strength ends up at around a medium towards the end. Lets go to the scores.
Prelight: 9/10 I mentioned my issue with the bands already, and while the cigar looks great, its certainly not the aged CC of your dreams either. While a cigar doesn't have to be the smokable equivalent Helen of Troy to get a top score, I want to be fair.
Construction and burning properties: 24/25 Construction was perfect. This is how all cigars should be rolled, and the fact that it did so well in less than optimal conditions is admirable. I had to touch this up a total of 3 times and relight it once. This score accounts for that while at the same time being fair, as a lot of that was due to the wind and I'm sure the humidity was a factor as well.
Draw and smoke production: 25/25 I didn't mention this at all in my review while I was smoking it, but the RS11 performed excellently. Plenty of smoke and the draw was perfect from the minute I gave this a v-cut, requiring zero tinkering. In the words of Cousin Eddie "shes a beaut, Clark." I'll note that I prefer a draw that is a tad looser.
Flavor: 27/30 Aside from a couple bad puffs resulting from me smoking too fast, there is nothing bad to say really. The cigar was full flavored with enough complexity to hold my interest the entire time.
Value: 10/10 I can't remember exactly what I paid for this box, but it was somewhere between $16-18/stick, and they're worth every penny. On the secondary market the most expensive boxes I've seen are around $550 and they're worth that easily as well. The only vendor that has these was asking a tad under $650 last time I saw and quite frankly even that price is acceptable. If these had a second band on them, the going rate would be north of $40 at this point for sure.
Total: 95 If it wasn't for a few very minor issues, this could've been even higher. Simply put: this is what I hope every aged Habano can turn into. If you see these pop up and you have the coin, spring for a fiver or box, you won't regret it.
Appearance and prelight experience: the cigar has a few veins but still retains some of the oils and has a silky feel in the hand. There is also a very pleasant aroma of caramel coming off the cigar. It’s got some sponginess but no underfilled spots. This has the old school Punch band and is one of the very few old bands that I actually like less than the new version. The new bands have managed to take all the good stuff about the classic version and improve upon it in every way. I don’t believe in prelight draws and feel that they are stupid as fuck, so we’ll be skipping that. Let’s light this bitch.
First third: Immediately upon lighting there is spice, but nothing so harsh or boring as red pepper, more of a paprika sort of thing perhaps. After a couple of puffs that initial spice starts to fade to background with some woody flavors and a creaminess coming to the forefront. Some other spices come in and fade out but I can’t quite place what they are, though they are pleasant. Towards the end of the first third the wood comes and goes and a flavor I can only describe as saffron starts to dominate. Strength is almost nonexistent at this point, extremely mild.
Second third: the saffron has stuck around and some floral notes have joined in. Some other spices appear then go away as quickly as they come and I still can’t place them. The cigar has some issues with the burn line, but this has more to do with the sustained 10 mph wind then anything else I’m sure. That, along with the 85% humidity is causing me to chief on this thing a bit more than I should and a couple bitter and ashy notes pop up, so I let it sit for a minute before resuming and the more enjoyable profile kicks back in almost immediately. Strength has picked up a bit in this third, lets call it a mild plus.
Final third: a cedar note becomes the most dominate flavor toward the end of the 2nd third and the beginning of the final third. A creamy butteriness creeps in here and there and adds a nice complexity. As it goes on occasionally a floral note will show up as well. At just under and inch and half remaining the cigar gets really hot. I decided to let it sit for a minute or two and hope that some rest could save it, and thankfully it did. A quick touch up and its back in the game. Flavors remain the same until just over a half inch when its all cedar at this point. At just under a half inch, its way too hot and its time to let this one go. Strength ends up at around a medium towards the end. Lets go to the scores.
Prelight: 9/10 I mentioned my issue with the bands already, and while the cigar looks great, its certainly not the aged CC of your dreams either. While a cigar doesn't have to be the smokable equivalent Helen of Troy to get a top score, I want to be fair.
Construction and burning properties: 24/25 Construction was perfect. This is how all cigars should be rolled, and the fact that it did so well in less than optimal conditions is admirable. I had to touch this up a total of 3 times and relight it once. This score accounts for that while at the same time being fair, as a lot of that was due to the wind and I'm sure the humidity was a factor as well.
Draw and smoke production: 25/25 I didn't mention this at all in my review while I was smoking it, but the RS11 performed excellently. Plenty of smoke and the draw was perfect from the minute I gave this a v-cut, requiring zero tinkering. In the words of Cousin Eddie "shes a beaut, Clark." I'll note that I prefer a draw that is a tad looser.
Flavor: 27/30 Aside from a couple bad puffs resulting from me smoking too fast, there is nothing bad to say really. The cigar was full flavored with enough complexity to hold my interest the entire time.
Value: 10/10 I can't remember exactly what I paid for this box, but it was somewhere between $16-18/stick, and they're worth every penny. On the secondary market the most expensive boxes I've seen are around $550 and they're worth that easily as well. The only vendor that has these was asking a tad under $650 last time I saw and quite frankly even that price is acceptable. If these had a second band on them, the going rate would be north of $40 at this point for sure.
Total: 95 If it wasn't for a few very minor issues, this could've been even higher. Simply put: this is what I hope every aged Habano can turn into. If you see these pop up and you have the coin, spring for a fiver or box, you won't regret it.
They are good to great no doubt in my mind but there are so many regular production cigars that are available from recent years that will be stellar. Thanks for the review.
