Punch Chop Suey (7 x 37 Panatela)

 

Video review HERE.

(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)

General Cigar has released Punch Chop Suey, a 7 x 37 panatela packaged in a Chinese food takeout-style box containing a bundle of 25 cigars. 

Each cigar will have a 1″ shaggy foot.  The blend features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and a combination of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers. Production comes out of Santiago in the Dominican Republic at the General Cigar Dominicana factory.

“We had a lot of fun with Punch Egg Roll last year so we decided to come out with a similar release for 2020. With its panatela size, this cigar delivers a great smoking experience in a format that really lets the tobaccos shine through. And with an SRP of less than $6 per cigar, Chop Suey hits that post-holiday sweet spot for cigar lovers,” commented Ed Lahmann, senior brand manager of Punch in a press release.

The inside of the cigar bands will provide one of five “fortunes” courtesy of brand mascot Mr. Punch. “The fortunes are coming from Mr. Punch, so expect a couple of friendly jabs and ‘inspirations’ from the snarky Punch mascot,” added Lahmann.

The total production of Punch Chop Suey is 3,650 bundles. Pricing is set at $5.49 per cigar.

Blend and Origin

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Factory: General Cigar Dominicana

Vitolas Offered

Panatela: 7 x 37

The cigar is basically a fat pencil. It has an average feel in the hand for a cigar of this size.

The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were a tangy citrus/cedar, a lot of brown sugar and cinnamon, and average or below of black coffee. A nice sweet start.

At the first third (24 minutes) the flavors have changed a little. As soon as the burn got to the wrapper the flavors started changing. There is now a worn leather flavor added to the mix. Once it appeared the citrus went away. You still have the cedar, elevated cinnamon, brown sugar, leather, and elevated black coffee. There was nice black pepper rated at 7 1/2. The lingering black pepper is very good and it's a coarse black pepper. The finish is a light leather and brown sugar with the very nice lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied but it will probably move up. The cigar is very tasty. I rated the first third at 94.

At the second third (55 minutes) the black pepper seems to have increased. The cigar is very close to full bodied. There is now a smoothness in the cigar from a somewhat buttery caramel. The black coffee is still elevated and noticeable. There is still a lot of cedar, cinnamon, leather, brown sugar, caramel, and black coffee. The finish is unchanged and there is still a lot of lingering black pepper. One downside of the cigar is it has gotten very soft and spongy. The other samples I had did the same thing. It's very soft. Based on flavors I would maintain the score of 94 but I deducted 1 point for the softness giving a second third score of 93.

The cigar lasted 1 hour 14 minutes. In the final third the cedar notes greatly decreased. There is still brown sugar, cinnamon, somewhat buttery caramel, light leather, and black coffee. The black pepper is very good on the front end. It went from 7 1/2 to over 8 during the course of the burn time. The finish is brown sugar and light leather and a lot of lingering black pepper. The cigar is very full bodied. The soft spongy feel is still there and I think it's gotten softer. In the final third the "pop" of the flavors decreased. I rated the final third at 92. Overall a very good cigar but a little soft.

Overall Score: 93