Tag Archives: punch

by Craig Vanderslice | February 25, 2024 · 9:45 am

CAO Flathead Resonator and Punch Dragon Fire Cigars

I smoked some new stuff from General Cigars this week, both of which necessitated the use of my Adorini punch, which, in my opinion, is the finest punch on the market. Adorini makes some excellent humidors, I have two and they are rock solid in form and finish. I’ve had both for around ten years and they require zero maintenance. I just throw some bovedas in every few months and they are good. This punch has two sized punches, 9mm and 13mm, and I fund that I only ever use the larger one and there are only a few cigars that I use it on, CAO Flatheads, RoMaCraft Neanderthals, and now this Punch. The exception might be the smaller ring Flatheads, but they are few and far between. It’s good to have options though, and variety is the spice of life, which is why I find myself rotating through several cut styles. None of this has anything to do with the cigars, so let’s get to the CAO Flathead Resonator. First off, I think this is the first Flathead to come out in the post Rick Rodriguez era, Flathead was his baby. It’s enormous at 8″ x 60, and took me a full 2½ hours to smoke. It’s a little surprising that they were able to pull this off in the age of Connecticut Broadleaf shortages, it takes a pretty large leaf to make 8″ cigars. Like the rest of the line, this has a Connecticut Habano binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, and is made in the STG Factory in Esteli. I’ve passed the factory on the way into Esteli on the Pan American Highway a few times, but it’s been over ten years, the town may have sprawled beyond there since. I’d love a tour (hint, hint). If you like the line, you’ll like this one, although it starts out a little mellower just by the nature of its length. I had no need to touch it up over the course of the smoke, which would potentially last an entire hockey game, I think (I might test that theory today). It had the sweetness, with some black coffee and cocoa that I like, along with some earthiness. All in all, an enjoyable, smoke, much more so than CAO’s last attempt at a 8″ x 60.

I suppose the elephant in the room is the question of whether General Cigar got permission from Gurkha to use “Dragon” in the name of the Punch Dragon Fire. Considering the lack of news on a C&D or lawsuit, one might assume that they did. This is the sixth cigar in the Punch Chinese New Year series, the previous five of which had a takeout food theme (save for the Fu Manchu which took a brief departure into facial hair apparently). They are sticking with keeping this in the budget price range, at $6.99 SRP, which is really good, I think. I have enjoyed the other releases in this series, and pick them up from time to time because they are wallet friendly and very tasty. I smoked a Kung Pow this week, which was the 2021 release, and enjoyed the crap out of it. This was a 6″ x 52 and features a short wrapper, where the first half inch is just binder and filler. The Kung Pow had a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over a Honduran habano binder and fillers from Brazil, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. It’s quite a blend for a $7 cigar! The Kung Pow is quite good, if you find them around, buy them. They might have been a part of the Pu Pu Platter box that they had that had a sampling the first few years of releases. I’ve gotten ahead of myself. The Punch Dragon Fire is a flat capped, 5″ x 60 cigar with a little bit of the wrapper folded over the foot (I think Enrique Sanchez of 1502 calls it the flavor lock, or something like that). Like the Flathead, this is also bade at the Esteli factory, most Punches are made in Honduras. The wrapper is Mexican, binder is Nicaraguan from Condega, and the fillers are Nicaraguan, Dominican and Honduran. There is a fireworks vibe to the packaging on these, and the cigar packs a punch, so to speak. I found it to be quite spicy, lots of pepper and nicotine. I enjoyed it, but I think it will improve with some age. The band is nice as it has the year on it, for those of us who save bands, it’s a nice reference. I like these two new General Cigar releases, even though they are both 60 ring, they are both up my alley.

If you get a minute, reach out to my buddy Kaplowitz (kaplowitzmedia(at)yahoo(dot)com) and wish him a Happy Birthday today! That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 860, CAO, Chinese New Year, cigar, cigars, Dragon Fire, Flathead, Kung Pow, punch, Resonator

by Craig Vanderslice | September 24, 2023 · 10:36 am

E.P. Carillo, Cavalier Geneve, Macanudo Vintage and Punch Golden Era Cigars

I split up the work week this week with a day trip to Atlantic City to sit on the beach one last time, do you know they don’t allow smoking on the beach in New Jersey? That sucks! Having a cigar is about the one thing I enjoy about going to the beach! The stupid thing about the smoking ban is that we all know it’s really another litter law, because a certain group of smokers can’t seem to pick up after themselves! There’s already litter laws, how about enforcing them! Anyway, I had picked up a few new to me cigars last week and smoked them this week! The first one was the E.P.Carrillo Allegiance in the Confidant size. This is a 6″ x 52 toro with a box press, and has a pretty Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers which all come from, and is manufactured by, Oliva Cigars. It’s kinda funny that when Ernesto started his factory, I think he was more interested in making cigars for other people, then he had success with his own brand (again), and now he’s having other people make his brand! I’ve loved Ernesto’s cigars since the mid ’90s anyway. This one was a surprise, or maybe not. I got a large dose of the cane sugar sweetness I often get from Sumatra, and it stuck around through the cigar. I liked it a lot, it was a nice change. I definitely want to smoke this again, I’d like to smoke this with a friend to compare notes, I think that would be interesting. Great smoke in my opinion.

Next up was another cigar I picked up on the same shopping foray, a Cavalier Geneve Inner Circle Toro. This is made at the company’s factory in Honduras, Fábrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A., and does not have the signature gold leaf diamond applied to the wrapper. The wrapper is Nicaraguan Habano, Honduran Habano binder and fillers from Dominican Republic, Honduras , Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. Considering the blend, especially the presence of Pennsylvania leaf in the filler blend, I was surprised that this was as mild as it was. Oddly, I got a hint of white sugar on this one, maybe I have a sweet tooth lately. It was very nice, mellow, with subtle sweet tobacco notes throughout, some light coffee perhaps. Whenever I see PA tobacco in the blend I buckle my seatbelt, not needed in this case. I couldn’t have been happier with the gracefulness of this cigar, it was a delight.

A few weeks ago I mentioned picking up a Captain America Invicta case to repurpose as a travel humidor, and this week I put some foam trays in it. I bought a pack of 12″ x 12″ acoustic foam “tiles” from Temu for a little over $10 delivered. I cut four of them to fit the case, and, if I’m being anal retentive, can put 24 large cigars in the case. Of course, it’ll fit way more than that if I cram cigars in. So if you picked up a case at Harbor Freight, or a Pelican case if your well off, or got your hands on one of these Invicta watch cases, and were wondering where to get foam trays to lovingly cradle your precious cigars for safe travel, here’s your solution! I chose red because I thought it looked cool with the case, they have other colors. I suppose now I’m going to be expected to show up toting this case with me whenever I go to events now…

I had a few cigars from General Cigar Co. left to smoke that I had been saving for the right time, and yesterday was the time. I say that because they are robustos, and I often like to take longer to smoke than a robusto will give me. I know, it’s a hard problem to have. I took the afternoon yesterday, since it was rainy, to work on starting to winterize my porch, which is my smoking lounge. This was a great time to light up a Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 Robusto. I’ve always liked the Macanudo Vintage Maduro offerings, this one was a surprise. The wrapper is a ten year old Connecticut Broadleaf, the binder is Honduran Olancho San Agustin, and the fillers are Dominican Piloto Cubano (two different primings), Nicaraguan Jalapa and Brazilian Mata Fina. This was a very bold cigar, surprisingly so for a Macanudo. A pleasant surprise, for someone who can be frustrated by a mild cigar. The cigar started with a shot of espresso, and didn’t let off too much from there. It had loads of roch coffee and cocoa with some spice and we really quite heavy. It frequently distracted me from my project, and reduced the profanity level significantly. I may remove the cedar from a few of these for long term aging, I’d hate to see these become too woody. That reminds me, I have a side by side experiment with some Diesel Esteli Puros I need to do one of these days.

Finally, a cigar I’ve been looking forward to trying is the Punch Golden Era. Like the EPC Allegiance, this is another partnership, this time General Cigar worked with Justo and Julio Eiroa and made this cigar at Fabrica Puros de Aladino SA in Honduras. You know the Punch Rare Corojo that doesn’t actually have any Corojo in the blend? This cigar does actually have Corojo, and it’s Corojo from the undisputed masters of Corojo. Funny enough, this and the Macanudo were switched for me, where I expected this to be a powerhouse and the Macanudo to be milder, this was the mild cigar. The Punch Golden era was bready, creamy and maybe a little nutty, not at all what I expected. It wasn’t anything like an Aladino, or an old Camacho, or any Punch I can think of. It was quite nice, but very surprising for an all Corojo cigar. If you like Corojo, and you want a different (in my opinion) take on it, give this a try. If you like smooth, creamy, elegant cigars, also give this a try! It’s certainly a tasty cigar, but challenged my expectations.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Allegiance, Cavalier, Cavalier Geneve, cigar, cigars, E.P. Carrillo, Golden Era, Inner CIrcle, macanudo, Macanudo Vintage 2013, punch

by Craig Vanderslice | June 11, 2023 · 8:53 am

New Cigars from CAO, Room 101 and Punch

I’ve been working through some samples I’ve had in the humidor for a bit. Starting out with the CAO Amazon Basin Extra Ańejo. The Amazon Basin came out first in 2014, and used a Brazilian Bragança leaf, which is processed what I imagine to be similar to the andullo process of twisting the leaf into tobacco sausages. They allegedly move the tobacco out of the Amazon Rainforest by canoe, which sounds a little far-fetched. The cigar has a Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and the Brazilian, Dominican and Colombian fillers. The Extra Ańejo was rolled in 2021 and left to age, I suppose, longer than the original batch. I’ll be honest, of the four original Amazon Basin blends, I was not a big fan of the original (or the last, I loved the middle two!). This one was pretty darned good. Although it isn’t one hundred percent up my alley, it was a tasty smoke. I smoked it through the tobacco-cord “band” with no discernable flavor difference. It had some sweetness and some spice, and something unique. I suspect if you were one who loved the original, you’ll really like this.

I think the Room 101 Daruma is the first Room 101 cigar to be released since the brand was acquired by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) and put under the Forged umbrella of brands. This is a Nicaraguan puro, oddly enough, it’s made by Oliva for Matt Booth. I suppose this shows that nothing is really changing with the Room 101 brand, STG could very easily made this in one of their several factories. The only criticism I have is that the fancy-pants outer sleeve on the cigar doesn’t have any identification on it save for the Fu and lotus symbols, which, if you aren’t familiar with Room 101, you won’t know what it is out of the box. Once stripped of the outer wrappings, the band makes it clear. I got a sweet wood profile from this cigar, and I really liked it. It burned well, and was completely enjoyable. I dig it, and my wife wants all the outer sleeves.

I was hesitant to even include this last one, because I find just about everything about it to be silly. If I didn’t like it’s predecessor, the Punch Champion, so much, I might have just passed on this one. Punch has been doing novelty releases for a while now, which I guess fits with the branding, which is based on the puppet Mr. Punch from the UK in the 1600s. He was a clown, and presented slapstick comedy. The Punch Dad Bod is presented with a silly necktie band, packed 5 cigars per can in a 4 -pack. I suppose it’s supposed to be like beer cans, but it comes off looking more like energy drinks to me. All that, and four of the five samples I received were damaged, and I’ve heard from others they they were damaged as well (both samples and in the wild). Now, this does have a fragile Cameroon wrapper, over a Connecticut broadleaf binder, with Nicaraguan Condega, Dominican Piloto Cubano, Honduran La Entrada and Brazilian Mata Fina fillers. This is a six country blend in a fairly small cigar. Once I get passed all the silliness, it’s a pretty tasty cigar, with some nuttiness, some sweetness and some earthiness. I rather enjoyed the couple I’ve had, one had some foot damage that wasn’t an issue at all (the other one exploded!). I have a dad bod, but I’m not particularly proud of it, so this is a Father’s Day “pass” for me, but it’s a good smoke, and it’s priced very nicely, so give it a shot.

That’s all for today. I’m so happy that the weather has warmed up and I can sit on the porch and write my Sunday post with a cigar, today it’s a Protocol Themis Churchill, a delicious shade cigar. Hopefully I will see some of you next Saturday at Battleship Beef Part II on the Battleship New Jersey! If you like food and cigars, it’s the place to be. Looking forward to seeing some great friends there! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Amazon Basin, Battleship New Jersey, CAO, cigar, cigars, Dad Bod, Daruma, punch, Room 101

by Craig Vanderslice | April 21, 2023 · 6:06 pm

News: Punch Dad Bod Cigars Announced

Punch is doing some, er, creative things with the branding and marketing. First, the inexplicable Chinese food series, now a Father’s Day release with the Dad Bod. I don’t know about you, but this sort of unhealthy body type is not something which should be normalized, let along glorified. I’m no fitness freak, but I’d sure love to lose 10 or 20 pounds and not have a “dad bod”! Anyway, the Champion size is always cool, and whatever the marketing, the cigars are always pretty darned good! I’ve been smoking Punch cigars for over 25 years, always enjoyed them.

PUNCH CELEBRATES THE DAD BOD

Dad bod noun — the physique of adult males who prefer to drink from a six pack instead of spending countless hours at the gym obsessing over their abs.

The team at Punch is declaring this the “summer of the Dad Bod” with the launch of Punch Dad Bod, a paunchy, limited-edition release that will ship to retail in a cool Father’s Day keepsake that you or your Dad will actually want to hold on to.

Punch Dad Bod comes packed in four, reusable stash cans that each contain five cigars and are complete with Boveda humidification. The keepsake cans can be used as a humidor, a portable ashtray or placed anywhere as a reminder that the Dad Bod is where it’s at.

John Hakim, brand manager for Punch said, “Father’s Day is the perfect time for us to let the world know that we salute dads, the Dad bod and the pleasure of smoking a great cigar. So we created this special expression and packed it in tins that own the soft-in-the-middle physique with pride. Dad Bod is about showing our support for the salt-of-the-earth Punch smokers who continue to make Punch their go-to brand.”

Handcrafted at HATSA in Honduras, Punch Dad Bod is a six-country blend made with a Cameroon wrapper, a USA Connecticut broadleaf binder and a blend of filler tobaccos that includes Nicaraguan Condega, Dominican Piloto Cubano, Honduran La Entrada and Brazilian Mata Fina. The result is a smooth-smoking, medium-bodied blend that is at the same time sweet, spicy and leathery.

Punch Dad Bod cigars sport a tie-shaped band and are available in a “Champion” size that gives a nod to the reverence Punch has for Dads and Dad bods. Shipping to retailers on May 1, the set contains four metal stash cans, each holding five cigars for a total of 20 Punch Dad Bods per set.

Punch Dad Bod (4.5” x 60); SRP per cigar $6.99

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by Craig Vanderslice | March 12, 2023 · 10:18 am

Casdagli, West Tampa, Powstanie and Punch Cigars

It was a pretty good week. A bit ago I sent some cigars to a friend, who, despite my protests, reciprocated with a package. People need to understand that I send out cigars without expectations! I do appreciate it though, especially when there are a bunch of cigars I hadn’t tried. The Casdagli Daughters of the Wind Pony Express was one of those cigars. I want to say I’ve smoked one Casdagli cigar in the past, it seems to me it was a figurado of some sort, but I can’t remember what it was. Was this company called something before it was Casdagli? Bespoke seems to be stuck in my mind. Anyway, This was a corona gorda of sorts, 6″ x 48, with a box press. I love the size. It’s made from tobaccos from Peru, Dominican Republic and Ecuador along with the tobaccos from the factory’s own plantation in the mountains of Costa Rica. It’s rolled in Costa Rica, which is interesting. This was a very different cigar than I gravitate to, it had a strong floral flavor. It was very good, thanks to Phil ( https://www.comedycigarsmusic.com/) for sending this!

Friday evening I went to Pairings Cigar Bar in Media, PA to hang out with Ricky Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco Co. Pairings is a great place with a nice selection. If you like to drink while you smoke at a bar, like the old days, this is the place to go. There aren’t as many such places in this area as you would think, I can think of two others in the Philly area. I’m not a bar guy, so maybe there are more I don’t know about. Most of our shops have lounges and don’t discourage BYOB. Anyway, Ricky was there doing a West Tampa event, of course. I had the opportunity to try the new West Tampa Red, and I can’t wait to get my hands on more, it was really good. I could draw some comparisons to the Attic, they share the San Andrés wrapper. This was a 6″ x 60, which I chose because I had a really good experience with a Black in that size a few weeks ago. I feel like the flavor was a little brighter than the Black or the Attic, both cigar I really like. I’m working on

I stole this pic from Craig Gilpin! TY

something with Ricky in the future, so stay tuned. There were a bunch of local cigar people there, reps, brokers, guys from other shops, and even Micky Pegg from All Saints Cigars (there’s a CAO connection!). I also had the chance to spend some quality time with my friend Craig (the Breadman), I like having fiends named Craig, because I have such a lousy memory for names, it makes it a little easier! It was a good night, although after smoking the Red AND the Black in the 6″ x 60 size, I had a hell of a time falling asleep.

The selection of cigars from Mitch, my Secret Santa, is dwindling. I selected a Powstanie SBC20, another corona gorda (this time it’s really a CG, 5½”x 46, close enough). This is a subtle barber pole, with Habano and Brazilian Mata Fina, made at Fábrica de Tabacos NicaSueño S.A.. I have a great affinity for cigars made at this factory. I was just thinking how it’s been ten years since I’ve been to Esteli, and what a hoot it would be to go and visit factories like Nica Sueño, Garmendia, etc. I think the town has changed a lot since I was there last. This was a pretty stout cigar, not a surprise. It’s got some pepper, cocoa and coffee, probably best smoked on a full stomach. I very much enjoyed this, I wonder how it compared to the ’16 and ’18 versions. If you’ve smoked them all, leave a comment!

I had picked up a couple of the Punch Spring Rolls a few weeks ago, it’s a shorter cigar than I like, but I wanted to try it. I’ve enjoyed most of the Punch cigars in this series, which, inexplicably, revolves around Chinese food. They are budget cigars, and usually have some interesting feature, on this one the wrapper is about a half inch short. It’s only 4½” x 50, like a Punch Rothschild, so that’s a pretty good percentage of the cigar that is wrapperless, when you think about it. I expected a flavor change when the burn line hit the wrapper, which is Ecuadorian Sumatra over an American broadleaf binder, with fillers from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and broadleaf from the U.S.. I never picked up on the change, oddly enough, it just remained a fairly uneventful cigar. It was dry and woody, I was expecting a lot more flavor. It wasn’t bad, I’ve seen people say it was excellent, I just thought it was OK. I guess it was a good think it was only 4½” long. I’ll give the other one a try next year. Maybe it’s because I don’t like Spring (or Egg) Rolls?