Punch Cigars started the year off with the release of the Punch Rare Corojo Aristocrat. The annual release uses a frontmark that was pulled from the Punch archives and is expressed in a a burly 6.125” x 40/54 figurado. This special size was originally made at the Villazon factory, commissioned by Frank Llaneza who founded Punch in Honduras. Frank made what he referred to as a baseball bat-size cigar for Red Auerbach and Art Rooney, two sports legends.
Reintroduced in 2001, after a shortage of wrapper leaves caused the product to disappear at retail for several years, Punch Rare Corojo is released annually and is the premium cigar category’s first seasonal cigar.
The Punch Rare Corojo has blend described as:
- Wrapper – Sumatra
- Binder – Connecticut Broadleaf
- Filler – Nicaraguan, Honduran and Dominican
The company notes:
“The wrapper is cultivated in the mountains of Ecuador and grown only in limited quantity, these rare, reddish leaves give Punch Rare Corojo its uniquely smooth taste.“
The Punch Rare Corojo is made at HATSA in Honduras and comes packaged in 20-count classic boxes with an MSRP of $9.99/cigar.
For this review I sampled 3 of these cigars which I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The Punch Rare Corojo is draped in a luscious dark brown wrapper that exhibits a few veins. The cigar has a light oily sheen and is well constructed figurado with a simple cap and nicely finished foot.
As noted, the cigar is adorned with a single band that uses an old, archived frontmark for the punch brand that was revived for the 2022 annual release. It uses a red, gold, black and white motif and boldly displays the PUNCH logo. The name Rare Corojo is printed in black on the bottom.
Running the barrel along the nose, I picked up a mildly pungent fermented leaf note. With the figurado foot, I was not able to detect any notes off the small tip.
I used my new “The Baller” cutter by CigarMedics to open the cap beautifully and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs that treated the palate to notes of pepper and cocoa. The draw was tight as one would expect from figurado.
Using my single flame torch I lit the tip of the foot and drew in the first puffs of peppery notes. Follow along as I burn this one to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Slow start to get through the tip but once it opens up I was greeted with notes of pepper
- The pepper is joined with a hint of woodiness
- Coffee and cream add to the pleasure
- A solid, well formed white ash forms on top of a medium thick char line
- Chocolate notes add to the early cream and coffee makin for a smooth smoke
- A pleasant sweet aroma wafts off the foot
- Ash fell in a solid chunk revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Consistent in flavor through most of the second third
- A touch of sour enters deep in the second third
- Not much development moving through the final with just a touch of spice
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 45 minutes
Final Analysis
This years Punch Rare Corojo Aristocrat was a fairly pleasant smoking experience although it lacked much development once it got into the second third. The chocolate, cream and coffee notes played together through the rest of the burn. There was a bit of sourness deep in the second that faded after a few puffs and there was a hint of spice in the final. From a construction perspective, this was a well made figurado that offered a clean burn throughout with just a mild jag here and there and a solid well formed ash. I would recommend picking a fiver of these and let one or two age some more and see how it develops. I rate this a 90.
Point Deductions: (-1) Not Much Flavor Development after the first third; (-1) Flat but centered burn cone; (-1) Mild Jag in the Burn; (-1) Some Sour notes deep in second third
