Punch Elite Natural

[Frinkiac7]

Bought this box a year ago this September, so this little stick has been sitting in the humidor all of that time. I believe this is the last one of the box of Elites (5 x 44) and the box of the slightly smaller London Club ( 5 x 40) I bought. Both were a little rough on the palate at first, but after 6-12 months of chilling in the humidor they are quite good.

Draw was a bit tight at first, but it quickly opened up and I got a lot of smoke out of this small stick. Burn was excellent and uniform and ash held on for quite a while given the smaller rg. When young I recall these being a little harsh, not very complex tobacco flavor. With some mellowing time I get a more nuanced, refined tobacco taste with a bit of spice, that doesn't "bite." What I really like about these little Punches after about a year is I get just the slightest hit of green tea flavor from them, which makes them a real treat.

Before SCHIP you could get the 5 x 40 London Clubs for about $27/box, now they are closer to $40/box retail, but still a pretty good smoke. NC Punch is a fairly good, affordable go-to in my book, and one of the only products from the big-boys (General or Altadis) that I smoke regularly. I'm sorry to have smoked all of these up, but for a relatively short, cheap, NC go-to, I really like how these have turned out a year down the road.

[Randy_LL]

iv always wanted to try one now i will ,,,thanks

[P_Roberts]

Nice review, I have had a few Punches and agree with you that they are a completely different smoke with some age.

[Cadillac]

I'm glad to see someone has done a review of this cigar. What a difference a little down time will do to this smoke - It improves quite a bit. I smoke a lot of CC's, but always come back to this value cigar. Another Punch that benefits from down-time is the Champion.

[slyder]

I like these little suckers. The maduros are good as well. Cheap too.

[jfserama]

This is one of my favorite smokes! Has all the qualities I look for - cheap, short smoking time, lots of smoke, and, most importantly, delicious! I've only had two so far, but I think I have found a perfect "go-to" smoke. Affordable, tasty, and easy to find. Not a very complex smoke, but very consistent. Smoked one this afternoon and didn't want to put it down - the last 1/3 was so creamy and smooth!

If anyone hasn't had one of these yet, you really should try it. For the price ($2.75 at my B&M) you can't go wrong.