Punch: Punch 48 Casa Del Habanos

It’s been a while since my last blog post. I put it down to a bit of laziness, and I blame the summer break and staycations. I ventured off to Cornwall for a week in August and it was nice to get away; plus, I got to smoke a different cigar every day, usually on the beach somewhere whilst I was there, which you may have seen me post about, on my social media…

Now I am back in London and ready to resume my cigar challenge. The next brand I want to smoke is the Punch cigar.

I was going to review the Punch Short de Punch… BUT… I didn’t really have much to write about after smoking it. I wasn’t really very impressed by it. This may have to do with my mindset at the time of smoking… so, I ended purchasing a Punch Punch 48 Casa Del Habanos cigar from Havana House to give this cigar brand another shot.

The stats:

Length: 5 1/2″ 
Ring Gauge: 48
Strength: Medium
Country of origin: Cuba
Cost: £24.95 @ Havana House

Background:

The Punch cigar brand is considered one of the oldest Havana brands, founded by Don Manuel Lopez in the mid 19th Century.

The packaging of Punch cigars traditionally includes the image of Mr Punch, a clown, who has a cigar in hand and surrounded by images of cigar making.

Punch cigars became associated with Hoyo de Monterrey and the two brands have been made at the same factory ever since. Today the factory La Corona is located in Havana, Cuba and I think you can visit the factory if you ever find yourself in Cuba (one day, this will happen for me!).

So whats special about this cigar? Firstly it was given 90/100 points by Cigar Aficionado

According to the Havana House website..

“Punch Punch 48 Casa Del Habanos Cigar vitola has never been used within the Punch brand before, the Punch Punch 48 are exclusive to La Casa del Habanos and Havana Cigar Specialists and won’t be found anywhere else.

Punch Punch 48 Casa Del Habanos Cigar is made with the finest tobacco from the most popular and best growing region Vuelta Abajo, these sticks are all presented in varnished boxes of 10. This is an exciting introduction to this long established Habanos brand.”

My experience:

This traditional looking Cuban cigar has the familiar red, white and gold band on top with the words ‘Punch 48 Cuba’ written on it. Followed by a second band which feels a little more unique that sits under it, I believe this one represents both the Habanos Specialist and La Casa del Habanos.

Wow, what an immediately spicy start, upon cutting the cap and lighting this Punch Punch 48 Casa Del Habanos cigar. I’m guessing that’s what the ‘punch’ is referring too?

I’m getting woody, hazelnut, cinnemon flavour notes. It’s a very relaxing smoke. A good consistent burn and overall feels like a very well constructed cigar, it has a great build up of ash.

I reckon I could enter one of those cigar competitions with this build up of ash!

After trying so many different cigars this year whenever I return to a Cuban cigar I am instantly reminded how top quality these cigars really are. I don’t quite know how else to describe it, but I keep getting this feeling time and time again.

My rating: 8 out of 10 – a million times better than the Punch Short de Punch. Very happy that I gave this cigar brand another shot!

Next up… a Quintero cigar!