Punch Serie D'Oro No.2 EL2013

[SirVantes]

Vitola: Campanas 52 x 140

Box Code: Unknown.  From handful of assorted singles I grabbed from a local B&M.

Pre-light: This sports an attractive wrapper which does not veer too much into the darker EL-esque territory.  Feels well-packed to the touch.  I use a guillotine cut at a slight angle.  Cold draw has just the right resistance for me; very clean on the cold draw, with a faint vanillin note; no feral or barnyard notes.

 

1st third: The dominant impression on the initial draws is a strong astringency, almost a walnut, rancio-like note.  After half a dozen draws, cream starts to emerge.  This builds very slowly through the first third, along with faint floral and cocoa notes.  There is plenty of smoke, dense in appearance but leaves the palate clean.  Burn is steady and straight.  Body is below medium at this point. Decent start.

2nd third: On the second third, the astringency fades and the cream takes centre stage.  Double cream, in fact, with sweetness on the finish.  The floral note is stronger now - honeysuckle? The smoke is still dense, and the ash is very firm.  I don't like to be stressed about ash falling on my lap, so I typically encourage ashfall with test taps - quite a hefty knock was required for this one.  Body is still below medium, but it seems to me that the cigar is struggling to stake its ground.

Last third: The astringency creeps back, and the body ticks up to medium.  Stronger cocoa now, and almonds.  Still creamy, still sweet.  Burn and draw still spot on, with no touch-ups required.  Even near the end, it wasn't smoking hot and there was no harshness on the palate.

Final notes: I found it pleasant enough, and no more than that. For an LE, and for a Punch, I had hoped for a little more complexity than ebb and flow. (This was the second one I've had in a month, with similar tasting notes). 

Score: 88

Smoking time: 1 hr 25 min

Ambient humidity: 76% - 82%

 

[TheMonk]

Very detailed review, great job!

[Hurltim]

Feel free to send me the rest of those

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[dicko]

Thanks for the review. Definitely agree on the floral thing. I only had a 3 pack of these but a really good LE in my mind, a bit different from the 'typical' choc/pepper LE profile.

[SirVantes]

7 hours ago, Hurltim said:

Feel free to send me the rest of those

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 

Sorry, those were singles rather than a box purchase!  End of the road for these, for now... 

[SirVantes]

19 minutes ago, dicko said:

Thanks for the review. Definitely agree on the floral thing. I only had a 3 pack of these but a really good LE in my mind, a bit different from the 'typical' choc/pepper LE profile.

Yep it wasn't a 'typical' LE.  I do like cream and floral flavours, and might have scored it higher, but somehow the cigar tasted a bit 'hollow'. The closest analogy I can come up with is a flavourful whisky that's bottled at 40% abv instead of cask strength - make sense? 

[Hurltim]

I got a nice roasted peanut flavor to go with that cream. Definitely one of the better LE's I have smoked. I am saving for a box...if I can stop buying boxes on 24:24 with the money I have set aside...LOL!