Thanks to BobbyRitz and rob300c, I am going to smoke 6 out of the 7 RE for '06 over the next month or so and give my reviews on them. Here they are lined up next to each other:
The Punch SR is a really gorgeous cigar to behold. Dark, chocolaty wrapper with no imperfections. No hard or soft spots. The cigar has a perfect draw and gives off lots of smoke; perfect combustion.
First impressions are good. Full-bodied with a very long finish. Starts off with notes of fruit and caramel. The fruitiness is somewhat strange, almost like berries. Very pleasant. It is almost candy-like (never had a cigar taste like that before). For the first inch or so, these flavors persist and then changes over into a tartness. It is still very smooth with no hints of youth.
About the half-way point, the cigar becomes a little crazy. There are no real discernible flavors. Sometimes it has a pleasant earthiness to it, other times it is harsh and bitter. I can detect the ammonia in it as well. The burn is pretty straight but does become a little ragged when a small crack develops in the warpper. This is short-lived thankfully; but the cigar still doesn't have a true identity at this point. "What are you?!?!" I want to yell at the cigar! The cigar does come back somewhat in the last third as the caramel and sweetness comes back. There is even a little grassiness that reminds me of a Cohiba. I am glad I smoked it past the halfway point as the ending is very good.
Overall: 89-90 with very good potential in the years ahead. Way too young to be a great cigar now and if the ending didn't turn out as well, it would've been in the low 80's because of the middle third.
The Punch SR is a really gorgeous cigar to behold. Dark, chocolaty wrapper with no imperfections. No hard or soft spots. The cigar has a perfect draw and gives off lots of smoke; perfect combustion.
First impressions are good. Full-bodied with a very long finish. Starts off with notes of fruit and caramel. The fruitiness is somewhat strange, almost like berries. Very pleasant. It is almost candy-like (never had a cigar taste like that before). For the first inch or so, these flavors persist and then changes over into a tartness. It is still very smooth with no hints of youth.
About the half-way point, the cigar becomes a little crazy. There are no real discernible flavors. Sometimes it has a pleasant earthiness to it, other times it is harsh and bitter. I can detect the ammonia in it as well. The burn is pretty straight but does become a little ragged when a small crack develops in the warpper. This is short-lived thankfully; but the cigar still doesn't have a true identity at this point. "What are you?!?!" I want to yell at the cigar! The cigar does come back somewhat in the last third as the caramel and sweetness comes back. There is even a little grassiness that reminds me of a Cohiba. I am glad I smoked it past the halfway point as the ending is very good.
Overall: 89-90 with very good potential in the years ahead. Way too young to be a great cigar now and if the ending didn't turn out as well, it would've been in the low 80's because of the middle third.
