Video review HERE.
(Description provided by General Cigar)
Punch Rare Corojo strikes again. The seasonal collection has begun making its annual return to retail earlier in February, with a frontmark pulled from the Punch archives.
The 2022 release of Punch Rare Corojo marks the addition of Aristocrat, 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 This special size was originally made at the Villazon factory, commissioned by Frank Llaneza who founded Punch in Honduras.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.
Ed Lahmann, senior brand manager for Punch said, “The ‘Aristocrat’ size was almost forgotten. Lucky for us, as we were looking back in the archives of Punch, we learned that this size hadn’t been made in decades. Further digging in the factory turned up 80 molds for this special size which is just what we needed for a limited edition smoke. This is our way of giving a nod to Punch Rare Corojo’s 20 year reign as the original seasonal cigar and paying tribute to the roots of the brand.”
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 cigar is crafted with a lustrous Sumatra wrapper cultivated in the mountains of Ecuador. Grown only in limited quantity, these rare, reddish leaves give Punch Rare Corojo its uniquely smooth taste. Bound with hearty Connecticut Broadleaf, the blend features Nicaraguan, Honduran and Dominican tobacco and delivers a layered smoking experience with notes of spice, chocolate, wood and earth.
Punch Rare Corojo is made at HATSA in Honduras.
PUNCH RARE COROJO ARISTOCRAT (6.125” x 40/54) – SRP per cigar $9.99
The cigar is beautifully made and has a nice feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was quite firm and I expected that with the small opening at the foot. The initial flavors at light up were a little citrus, quite a bit of citrus peel, leather, a touch of brown sugar, almond butter, and black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7. The cigar starts quite heavy on thick almond, leather, and black coffee with minimal sweetness overall.
At the first third (30 minutes) the notes haven't changed much. There is still a touch of citrus, quite a bit of citrus peel, a touch of brown sugar, almond butter, increased leather, and black coffee. The sweeter notes do not really compare to the darker notes. They are the minority. The cigar is medium bodied but it's pushing hard toward medium to full. The finish is heavy on leather and almond with light to average lingering black pepper. I rated the first third 88.
As I moved through the second third (1 hour 8 minutes) the cigar moved darker. There are now hints of citrus peel and hints of brown sugar. But there was still plenty of leather, decreased almond butter notes, and quite a bit of black coffee. The cigar is now medium to full bodied. The finish is leather and black coffee with improved lingering black pepper. The cigar is dark and leathery. I rated the second third 86.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 33 minutes. I surely didn't expect the cigar to make any improvements based on how it was going but it actually did. There were citrus notes with toffee. The almond butter is greatly reduced and the leather is slightly reduced. The black coffee didn't make any change. The cigar is medium to full bodied leaning toward full bodied. The finish has a touch of citrus and leather with good lingering black pepper. So, the cigar made some improvements. Not light year improvements, but improvement nonetheless. I rated the final third 88.
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