The development of the Punch Signature began in 2012 when Punch Master Blender Agustin Garcia and his team came across a small batch of Ecuadorian tobacco they wanted to use. Worried they wouldn’t have enough to produce a new line they worked with a grower to cultivate special Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper exclusively for this cigar. According to General Cigar the parent company of Punch, the filler leaves are of the same variety of the original Punch blend.
The cigars were sent to The Cigar Authority by Punch who advertises on the podcast and blog at the time of review.
Cigar: Punch Signature
Size: 5 x 54 (Robusto)
Wrapper: Ecuador Corojo
Binder: Connecticut Habano
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Strength: Medium-Full
Source: Punch / General
The Look: The thing that grabs my attention is the band where it denotes Punch twice. One of the branding is within a banner that looks well done, the secondary branding of Punch in the middle utilizes a childish font that to me takes away from the cigar. In an essence the band looks cheap although very clean. The back of the band features Mr. Punch. Since you can’t smoke the band cigar features a pristine looking wrapper with some brindle like qualities to it. The roll seems porous in spots but there are no soft spots. In the hand the cigar has an average weight and a slightly coarse feel.
The Notes: The cold draw on the Punch Signature is reminiscent of walking into a cigar factory, with the smell of raw tobacco. In fact the taste of the cigar triggers a memory of going to the General Factory many years ago. The foot of the cigar has a similar aroma but there are also notes of cedar present.
On first like the cigar actually made me say whoa, as there was a kick that I did not expect which I felt on the back of the throat. It was a quick hit of cayenne pepper that remained those not as potent as on the first light. There is some cashews present and a hint of cedar.
In the second third of the cigar the notes of nuts move to the forefront with some continued cayenne pepper lingering in the background. The Cayenne is especially noticeable through the nose.
The last third of the Punch Signature continues with some cayenne pepper. The back of my throat feels scratchy from the rough unbalanced nature of the cigar which didn’t do anything to captivate me.
The Burn: For a cigar that features a wrapper that has been aged for a coupe of years, I expected the burn line to be thinner which brings into question the actual aging of leaf. Generally speaking, the thinner the burn line the more age on the tobacco. The ash of the cigar held for about a quarter of the cigar at a time, although it was a tad flaky. The draw was perfect and the cigar remained lit from start to finish though at the mid way point I needed to touch it up as the burn line got a little wonky.
The Finish: One would think a cigar in the works since 2012 would have more complexity than the Punch Signature which comes off one-dimensional and appears to be more along the lines of the Punch Rare Corojo on steroids. I was expecting much more out of the Signature cigar from Punch and am left severely disappointed with this smoke that comes off as unbalanced and generic.
Price: $6.79
Score: 86
Punch Signature
Punch Signature Foot
Punch Signature Burn
