Punch Double Corona smoked on April 2, 2012
BoxCode: SVF OCT 05
Paired this with a little bit of Cognac.
Pre Light observations:
Cold aroma. Peanut, cake. Cigar a bit pongy, though firmly packed.
First Third
Slightly bitter with sweet finish. Some toffee on the finish some nuttiness coming out. Very good burn, easy draw toasty tobacco and walnut though there are still hints of bitterness followed by doughy sweetness. Very light and flaky ash.
Toasty tobacco. Still a slightly bitter tannic notes throughout but enjoyable. Dry walnut notes. Slight peanut taste coming on. Some tobacco kick. Dry finish on the palate. Some toffee in the past two draws
Second Third
Some anise sweetness. Peanut again not as pronounced as I'd like but promising. More nuttiness, the bitterness is waning now. Draw smooth as silk, taking "sips" of the cigar and not my usual double puff. The cigar is flattening out flavour-wise to be nutty and sweet at this point. .
The burn is a tad bit wonky but not worrisome. More toffee. Much smoother cigar now. Toffee with a tanniny finish. .
The cigar is behaving well so far. Still some sweetness. Peanuts on the finish. Very nice. Creamy, almost buttery flavors coming through book ended by dry tanniny notes. Coffee and mocha smoothness comes out.
Really tasty. Intense coffee notes followed by green pepper. Odd More nuttiness. Tanniny finish still present. Some green pepper to end the second third.
Third Third
Coffee with some anise on the finish. Ash is still very flaky. Toffee sweetness. Sweet finish. More coffee. Big peanut punch followed by milky coffee. Bitter coffee notes with a sweet rescue on the finish.
A bit more of the same. More coffee with nutty aftertaste. Back to peanuts. Creamy coffee with peanut aftertaste. Very delicious. Bitter coffee. Molasses toffee. Coffee hit with walnut finish.
More peanut. Almost done. Big peanut hit. More anise & peanut.
Conclusion:
This is my second Punch DC from the box. The first one I smoked had a lot of bitterness in it. This one was a lot sweeter though it did have some bitter notes here and there. The Punch "peanut" tastes really started to come through on this stick. I was very pleased with the varying levels of coffee flavours. The hits of toffee were also unique. This box is showing me a bit of evolution. I'm hoping the next cigars I pull will have smoothed out even more.
Score: 91. Were it not for the bitterness peppered throughout, this would climbed to 96 for me.
Final Thoughts: The bitter notes bother me. The first one had a bit more, this one was more tame. I'm wondering if that's the result of the humidity levels within the cigar itself. It was very spongy when I pinched it. It burned well and never needed a relight though.
I have a fifty cabinet of these cigars. Everyone seems to love them but I find them quite a dull smoke and with a draw so bad that I wondered if I had cut it. It rates at the bottom of the DC line up in my view. However, to be fair it is a distinct taste - quite smooth, very filled with chocolate pencil shavings (can I really write that?). The best thing is the aroma when you plunge your nose into the box; it really is delicious. A fifty cab is a thing of beauty too. So in summary if you like that bitter dry taste then these will be your thing. Non degustibus esg disputandem est. - there is no accounting for taste or probably my spelling either.