Tag Archives: punch

April 26, 2026 · 10:19 am

New El Rey del Mundo, Punch and Bolivar Cigars

The Premium Cigar Association trade show happened last weekend, so I figure I’d share my thoughts on a few cigars that were showcased there by General Cigar Co. I wasn’t there, I’ll get back one of these days. It’s a great experience, but it’s a lot of work, and I haven’t been able to justify the expense over the last few years. Fortunately, General sends me samples, so I tried a few of them this week. Sometimes they are really good, sometimes just OK, but the odd thing is that I rarely see them show up on retailers shelves. In the case of the three today, I hope they do. First off, there’s the El Rey del Mundo limited edition King of the World VSOP. I’ve smoked and enjoyed El Rey del Mundo cigars for the last thirty-ish years, they’ve always been really good cigars. This new line was rolled in 2021 and has been resting since then in the STG factory in Esteli. The 6″ x 52 toro has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan Habano binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican Habano fillers, and is $11. This cigar was a surprise. It was perfectly constructed and had a nice, white ash. There is an odd sweetness, hard to pin down, but I like is a lot. Some spice sneaks in near the end. While this didn’t really remind me of the ERdMs I remember from the past, it was a very good cigar, elegant and balanced. By the way, El Rey del Mundo King of the World is redundant!

Next up is a new Punch, this one celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Rare Corojo line. The Rare Corojo has been an annual release, and for many years the Corojo was so rare that it didn’t appear in the cigars, just in the name. for the 25th anniversary General Cigar has fixed this, even going so far as to have the cigars produced by the Eiroas at the Aladino factory in Honduras with a Corojo wrapper, binder and Corojo and Habano fillers. Of course, Julio Eiroa is the king of Corojo. These are 6″ x 54 and $11 a cigar. Apparently the regular Rare Corojo is now available year round. As with the ERdM, this burned perfectly. I can only describe the flavor I got as a nice tobacco sweetness, not sugary, but not a savory flavor either, it was just really pleasant to smoke. It’s different from the Rare Corojo, I guess the addition of actual Corojo will do that! It was always curious to me why they called it that when it didn’t have any of the tobacco it was named for in the blend. This is good.

The third cigar in this weeks trilogy was another anniversary cigar, this one from Bolivar celebrating 130 years. It’s called, predictably, the Bolivar Aniversario, and is a limited edition, priced at $10 for a 6″ x 52 toro. I want to take a moment to thank General for sending samples in my favorite size for a change, for years it was robustos, lately it’s been toros. I used to smoke a lot of robustos, but lately they don’t fill enough time for me. I’ll smoke them on the odd occasion that I can have a morning smoke, or when I know I only have an hour. There have been times that a larger cigar burns too fast, doesn’t burn well or taste good and I have that time to fill that a robusto works, but it can’t be something new at that point, it has to be something familiar, because I can’t get the same flavors out of a second cigar. Anyway, this Bolivar has an interesting list of ingredients. The wrapper is Ecuador Habano, that’s not awfully interesting. The binder is Brazilian Arapiraca, with fillers from Paraguay, Argentina, Columbia and Brazil. That’s a wild blend, with the wrapper being the only Central American tobacco, the rest is South American, which is unusual. It’s made in Honduras at the HATSA factory. Some Peruvian and Panamanian tobaccos would have fit with the Bolivar theme, maybe they didn’t work in the blend. I ended up really enjoying this cigar, although it started out kinda weird. My impression was that the flavor was if saccharine was more sour than sweet. This is a weird description, I know, but it was a perplexing melange of flavors that ended up being really interesting and entertaining. Another winner.

That’s enough for today. I’m working on making a video for a new humidor system from the folks at CigarBros that impresses me. Hopefully I get it done for a midweek post. Editing video is not my forte, hopefully I can get it done in one take. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 25th Anniversary, Aniversario, bolivar, cigar, cigars, El Rey Del Mundo, King of the World, punch, Punch Rare Corojo, rare corojo, VSOP

February 22, 2026 · 9:20 am

La Sirena, Punch and Oz Family Cigars and a New CigarProp

I write this as I await yet another snowstorm, which I don’t look forward to at all. Sure, it’s pretty, for a minute, but the aftermath is really bothersome. I’ll be happy when this winter has passed us by! I’ll take sweat over snow any day of the week. Anyway, It’s been a while since I’ve featured one of my favorite lines over the last dozen or so years, La Sirena. Those who follow on Instagram or Facebook will frequently see me lighting up a La Sirena, whether it’s the Original, Mexican Mermaid, or the LT, I’m a big fan of the line. Here’s a video from way back in 2012 from the trade show:

This is number three on my most watched videos on my Youtube channel, by the way. Anyway, a lot has changed with La Sirena over the years. Arielle has stepped back and is raising a bunch of children, and her father, Danny is steering the ship now. Merlion and Oceano are discontinued, and the classic La Sirena line is on it’s third factory. It started out being made at My Father, then at La Zona for a long time. Recently production has shifted to Tabacalera La Isla, which is the same factory that makes the Mexican Mermaid (the LT is still made by Plasencia). I’ve smoked loads of the La Sirena Original, and I was very interested in sampling the new iteration. I believe my favorite size, the Trident (Churchill) has been replaced by a Toro, so, obviously I went with the 6″ x 60 King Poseidon size first. I have no reason to believe the blend has changed, Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro wrapper, Nicaraguan Criollo binder and Nicaraguan Jalapa & Condega fillers. I was concerned that my favorite cigar had changed, but it hadn’t! It still has the sourdough flavor that I really like in this cigar. It’s perfectly constructed and delicious! I’m very happy that Hostos at La Isla was able to maintain the signature flavor that I like in that cigar! If you have an opportunity to smoke any of the line, take it, you won’t be disappointed. I noticed that the latest version no longer has the thn band under the large band. If you come across La Sirenas where you can see the thin band under the large band, grab them, they are the original My Father version.

I probably should have smoked this next cigar earlier in the week, as the 17th was the lunar new year and the start of the Year of the Horse. While not technically a “Year of” cigar, Punch generally releases their line of Chinese food themed cigars about this time. This yeor it is the Egg Roll XL. The original Egg Roll was 4½” x 50, with the same unfinished foot that the 6″ x 60 XL has. It has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Columbian, Dominican, Mexican and US fillers. That’s a heck of a blend for an $8 cigar. I have historically liked this line of cigars, even though I think the branding is a little cheesy. What does Chinese food have to do with cigars? I guess it makes as much sense as anything else. I’ve smoked Chinese cigars, and just about anything is better than they are. This XL starts out with a leathery flavor, mind you, the first ¾” of the cigar is just binder, once the burn reaches the wrapper things round out a little and some sweetness comes in. Burn was good, I think it only need a slight correction once. This is another winner in this series, however was satisfied with this one, I didn’t crave another a half hour later. I like it, thank you to the folks at STG for sending samples.

I’ve mentioned before that Smoke Inn has been putting some ridiculous offers out there every week. I picked up a five pack of the new(ish) Oz Family Cigars Karatoba Robustos. Before I talk about the cigar, I want to highlight something new from my friend CigarProp, a set of four 3-D printed props. These are reminiscent of the plastic model kits we assembled as kids. I like these, maybe Kevin will make a mop bucket ashtray to go with them! CigarProp usually posts the Smoke Inn weekly specials, watch for them on his feed. The Karatoba is made at NACSA, which wasn’t a surprise to me when I looked up the specs after smoking it. It has a Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder an Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. The Robusto sells for $12, and I got the five pack for $20 delivered. I’m going to be sorry I bought all these five packs from them when they go bankrupt! I feel like I’m stealing. The Karatoba has a very strong flavor, but it’s not a really strong cigar. It’s pungent, almost cloying, and I loved it. I’m interested in trying it in a larger size. I had an hour to kill and this 5″ x 52 square pressed cigar fit the bill perfectly. One down, four to go. I’ve smoked a bunch of cigars from NACSA, and this is definitely one of them!

That’s all for today, I’m going to watch this morning hockey game with Gold medals on the line. I expect a great game! Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, Cigar Prop, cigars, Egg Roll XL, Karatoba, King Poseidon, La Sirena, La Sirena Original, Oz Family Cigars, punch

April 27, 2025 · 8:06 am

Aganorsa Signature, The GOAT and Oz Family Cigars

First off I feel the need to point something out. I received the press release for this year’s Punch Father’s Day release, Mr. Punch’s Weiners. I thought the Dad Bod was a terrible concept just about all around, some folks liked it. The band was dumb, packaging them in a can was dumb, overall I thought it sent a bad message: it’s OK to let yourself go. Not that I’m a fitness freak, I have a dad bod, but I don’t embrace it! The Dad’s Home Videos was very good, not a problem. I have a problems with the weiner theme, aside form the obvious, it seems to be a little close to the Fratello Vice-Versa, down to saying it can be smoked from either end. Now, it doesn’t claim to taste different depending on which way one smoked it, but the concept is the same. I know it’s not worth Omar’s time to do anything about it, both are limited editions, and General has deep enough pockets to defend themselves, but it would be a courtesy to look at things in the market and try not to blatantly copy them. At least they put them in packs of 10. I think Kevin (who played a big part in the Vice-Versa, by the way) should get on his 3D printer and make some hot dog roll cigar props and sell them in packs of eight!

That was a long way to get to the punch line, so let’s talk about some new-to-me cigars. In a recent visit to The Wooden Indian I picked up an Aganorsa Leaf Signature Selection Maduro Toro. This is a Nicaraguan Puro, mostly Nicaraguan Corojo with a touch of Nicaraguan Criollo 98 in the filler. I struggle with the Aganorsa lines, some I like, some not so much and I can’t seem to ever remember which ones fall into which category. I know I like the La Validation Maduro, that’s for sure. Will I remember the next time I’m faces with a choice? Who’s to say? I can say that I’m adding this to the list of Aganorsa cigars I like. It started with a dry cocoa powder kinda thing going on, and got sweeter as it went along. Burn and draw were great and it hit the spot. $13.50 well spent.

Next up from my Wooden Indian foray was an A.J. Fernandez cigar that I’ve heard a lot about, The Goat. This started life as a store exclusive for Nasser’s Lounge in Pétion-Ville, Haiti. I’ve never been there. It’s now in wider distribution, and is pricey for an A.J. Fernandez cigar , around $17. Also pricey for me, but I was interested and looking for new things. This has a San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder and Nicaraguan fillers. What’s not to like, right? Turns out, I liked it a lot. It was a 6″ x 52 toro, It was heavy, earthy and had some sweet espresso notes. It was very good, but outside my comfort zone price-wise. I’m notoriously frugal.

Finally I picked up an Oz Family Cigars Firsat, in the F54 size. This is a 7″ x 54 cigar, with a higher priming Ecuador Connecticut wrapper that I thought was pretty ugly. Many times ugly wrappers are very tasty. The binder is a Ecuador Habano with Nicaraguan fillers. I believe this is made at Casa Carillo in the DR. It’s a big cigar, and I sat down to watch a movie figuring it was going to take a good two hours to smoke. The flavors were nuts and leather, with a bit of creaminess and built up to a solid medium. This was a light (in weight) cigar, and was done in less than 90 minutes, which was a bit of a disappointment. $14 wasn’t a terrible price, it was a tasty cigar and it might work better in another size, or at least the same for less money.

That’s all I have for today. Don’t forget to check out the Flatbed Cigar Co. Daily Deal, there’s always something good (left sidebar). Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as A.J. Fernandez, Aganorsa Leaf, cigar, Cigar Prop, cigars, Firsat, Fratello, Oz Family Cigars, punch, Signature Selection, The Goat

April 20, 2025 · 9:23 am

Some Macanudo and Punch Cigars

I wasn’t even really thinking that I only smoked Macanudo and Punch cigars for this week’s post, it just sort of happened that way! I was really impressed with the Macanudo Emissary España last year, it’s really good, and on the stronger side for a Macanudo. It has tobacco grown in Spain, and the new one, the Emissary France, believe it or not, has tobacco grown in France! The tobacco cultivated in the Mugron River Valley, where it gets an Atlantic sea breeze. Emissary France has an Ecuadorian Habano Wrapper (10-Year Aged), a USA Broadleaf Binder (10-Year Aged), and a filler blend composed of Dominican Piloto (10-Year Aged), USA Broadleaf (8-Year Aged), Brazilian Arapiraca (7-Year Aged) and French (4-Year Aged). This was a really interesting cigar, another Macanudo that’s up my alley. It’s bold, it has a lot of espresso, and a hint of Mesquite. Very interesting and entertaining! The last few weeks cigars have been more therapeutic than usual, an

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d this one, although too short at 5″ x 50, was a hit.

In the spirit of the season, I finally completed an experiment. Back in March of 2020 I found a Macanudo 1968 that had been inadvertently left out and was on the dehydrated side. It measured only 35% on the Humidimeter. I labeled it with the date and humidity, and stashed it in a corner of one of the humidors. I hate to complain, but it actually took me a while to find it, I had forgotten which humidor it was i

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n. This cigar was from a box that I was given in 2011 when I went to tour General Cigar’s operations in Santiago. I might still have one floating around somewhere, I don’t think this was the last one. Anyway, I took a Humidimeter reading and it was right around 60% so I lit it up yesterday while watching a movie. The Macanudo 1968 was probably the first of the stronger Macanudos, so I wasn’t worried it had aged out, more concerned with the dehydration. It actually smoked really well, tasted like an older cigar, mature, with some spice. It shows that resurrecting a cigar is possible, and probably didn’t take 5 years, I just kept forgetting about it!

Let’s move away from Macanudo and on to one of it’s stablemates, Punch. Punch is an old Cuban brand, with roots in the English market. So it stands to reason they would come out with seasonal releases with Chinese themes. It was food for a bit, then fireworks. This year’s is the Bottle Rocket. It comes in a single size , a 4½” x 50 figurado. It has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, a Nicaraguan Estelí binder, and Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Honduran fillers. I have enjoyed ll of the cigars in Punch’s lunar new year series, and they are priced well. I was in The Wooden Indian Tobacconist yesterday grabbing a few cigars (sadly they were sold out of the WIT60, their 60th anniversary cigar made by Espinosa), and I saw the Bottle Rockets and they really are packed with a stick attached, my samples were sans stick. My notes said “tasty little bugger”, full bodied, loads of cocoa and a deceptively long burn time. I think I got over an hour out of this one. Another winner from Punch.

While at the Wooden Indian I grabbed a Punch Dad’s Home Movies and smoked it last night while not watching home movies. This is another perplexing branding theme for Punch. Every year ahead of Father’s Day they come out with some k

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hy themed cigar, this was last year’s and I’m just now getting around to trying it. I was especially critical of the “Dad Bod”, hated the name, the stupid necktie band, and samples I had were mostly damaged. I had one last week and it about fell apart. This one is more my speed. It’s a 6″ x 50 box pressed toro, made in Honduras with an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and not a hint of Honduran tobacco! This one started out with a dry cocoa powder flavor, then sweetened slightly. I’ll tell you what, for under $8 you could do a lot worse, I quite enjoyed this one. The branding is less egregious than the Dad Bod (which won a HalfWheel packaging award, go figure).

That’s all for today. If you’re given to celebrating the holy days this time of year, I hope they are enjoyable! Don’t forget to check the Flatbed Cigars Daily Deal on the left sidebar (or on their page), there’s always a great deal on some great cigars. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 1968, Bottle Rocket, cigar, cigars, Dad's Home Movies, Emissary, France, general cigars, macanudo, punch

September 1, 2024 · 9:25 am

A Djeep Lighter, New La Gloria Cubana, Punch and Los Statos Deluxe Cigars

Welcome to the “last weekend of summer”. My birthday and Labor Day always get me down as they indicate the coming of cooler, and eventually cold, weather, which I dislike. I like summer. I like stepping outside in the morning and feeling warm. I like not having to bundle up. I know some people like autumn, but it just depresses me. I’m already looking forward to spring! Anyway, I was going through the checkout line at Walmart this week and my eye usually looks at the selection of lighters, and I saw something I hadn’t seen before, a Djeep Turbo Lighter. I figured for $5 it was worth a try. I broke a couple torches lately, although I still have plenty, but one more won’t hurt. It comes full of butane, ready to go, and really works well. It brings to mind the classic Blazer PB207, as it has a cap secured with a chain. It, thankfully, doesn’t have a switch to lock the flame on, which I always thought was a liability. The flame is adjustable and it’s refillable. I’ll use the heck out of it and see how it holds up, but initially I’m impressed. Djeep is a good name in lighters, the soft flame disposable has always done well, I think I had one Macanudo branded many years ago. There are probably cheaper torches that work just fine, but this is a brand name and is easily accessible. The link is to Amazon where they sell a six pack and is an affiliate link. If twenty of you buy these it might pay for the one I bought!

I received some new releases from Forged Cigars and General cigars a couple weeks back, and was disappointed to receive the press release, but not the cigars, for a new La Gloria Cubana, a long time favorite brand. Fortunately, my friend Phil of Comedy-Cigars-Music shared a couple of his with me. The La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado is a large figurado, 7¾” x 62, with a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. Each cigar has a secondary band with a signature of one of the team who created it, and they only use rollers with 15 or more years of experience. I had a busy week at the day job, and was ready to sit down and relax with a cigar Friday, and I chose this large cigar to do it with. This was a really good smoke. I’ve had some issues with some of the La Gloria releases lately, but this ain’t one of them. It’s huge, so it smoked for about two and a half hours, and had some nice cocoa flavors with some spice through the nose. Mid way through there was some interesting savory flavors, a cigar this large needs some transitions to keep it interesting. I really enjoyed this cigar, I think it’s very fairly priced at $15, and I really appreciate Phil sharing his with me.

Next up from Forged was the latest Matt Booth/Justin Andrews colab in the Los Statos Deluxe line, the Connecticut. I’ll be honest, I thought the other “LSD” offerings were OK, but I really like this one, and it’s really hard to get me excited about shade wrapped cigars. This one has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, Esteli, Jalapa, Nicaraguan Habano, and PA Broadleaf fillers, and, get this, it’s made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory! No wonder I liked it. Before I read where it was made, I was thinking that this was a really good budget alternative to a Sobremesa Brulee, and now I know why! This is on a par with the Antaño CT and the Brulee as far as I’m concerned. I’ve smoked a couple of these and really enjoyed them, it’s a smooth, creamy cigar, with some cane sugar sweetness and an appropriate amount of spice. I need to find some of the other sizes, the Churchill especially. Look for the purple packaging, because you can’t see the wrapper to know what you’re getting!

Moving from the Forged division of STG to the General Cigar Co. side, I smoked the new Punch Golden Era in Lancero. Nearly a year ago I wrote about the robusto in this collaboration with Julio and Justo Eiroa of JRE Cigars. I remember getting the Golden Era along with the Macanudo Vintage Maduro 2013 and being confused by the fact that the Macanudo was the stronger cigar. Like I mentioned last year, unlike the Punch Rare Corojo, this Golden Era actually has Corojo in the blend, Honduran Corojo wrapper with Honduran Corojo and Habano fillers. This is a nice cigar with some bread and caramel notes. The press release incorrectly states that this is the only Punch lancero, unless the 7″ x 37 Chop Suey doesn’t count because it was limited. I think the lancero was better than the robusto, I planned to smoke one while writing this, but a persisting migraine made me scrap that idea. I’ll have one later.