Archive for the ‘upper’ Category

Upper Cut by Punch

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Not long ago, Victoria from The General Cigar Company sent me a few cigars to review. Apparently they wanted to clarify the blend in the “Blogosphere” and of course get opinions on some cigars. I’m not one for major details on a cigar, but the Upper Cut features Ometepe tobacco, which they claim results in an intriguing range of flavors. Being a skeptic, I filled up a glass of water and put the Upper Cut by Punch to the test. Let’s see how it went.

 

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan, Ometepe

Size: Grand Corona 6 x 45

Price: Around $6.50

 

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The dark wrapper was a bit rugged looking, but had minimal flaws. There were some medium veins along with a toothy (bumpy) appearance. Sniffing the wrapper and foot revealed a dark, sweet smell. The pre-light draw was free, and had a sweet natural tobacco flavor. I squeezed the entire length of the cigar, and found quite a few minor soft spots. It wasn’t extreme and nothing to be concerned with.

The burn would get wavy from time to time, but always corrected itself. The ash held for an inch before I tapped it off into the ashtray.

1PunchUpperCut 

Flavor:

The beginning of the first third started out with an interesting flavor. This is one of the few times I was positive that I was picking up nice leathery overtones. A fairly strong pepper was present when exhaling through the nose, and I could feel the spice on the inner lips. The leather calmed down as I progressed further into this third, and earthy coffee-ish notes entered the picture. The pepper started to calm a bit but certainly did not go anywhere. A nice zing let you know it was lurking. As this third came to an end, I picked up some nice sweet notes.

2PunchUpperCut

The second third well and overall mellowed out a bit. The peppery spice calmed and took on a sweet flavor. I picked up coffee, wood, and leathery undertones that were very pleasant. The aftertaste coated the inside of the mouth with the same core flavors I just mentioned.

3PunchUpperCut

Coffee was the core flavor in the last third. Wood followed, along with wisps of earth and leather. The spice lost some of it’s sweetness, but kept some of it’s zing. Unidentified sweet notes would come and go. It was mellow and relaxing.

4PunchUpperCut

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed this medium to upper medium bodied cigar. I thought it was interesting how the first third had all this stuff going on, but then changed as if someone flipped a switch. I wouldn’t call this a “WOW” cigar, but I think it was very good. Definitely worth trying!

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