Cigar Reviewed: Punch Golden Era

Smoked at: Central Wisconsin

Cigar World sent me a Golden Era to review which was awesome, but I felt that the survey you folks had me take wasn't enough of a 'thank you', so thought I'd take a stab at this. I'm a casual smoker with an uneducated palate, so be patient with my 'tastes'…I know what I like but not always how to describe it.

Pre-light: roll was fairly tight, perfect springyness, no soft spots, and pre-light draw was ideal for me with hints of earth and wrapping paper. Medium hue was even with some veining. Wrapper was not oily at all, but had a nice light sheen. Band is simple but elegant, and overall made me really look forward to lighting the stick.

Lighting was easy and even with the tightness of the roll. After being lit, the draw was consistent throughout the hour long smoke, cool to warm burn only heating up a little at the very end of the last third. Ash was firm and almost white, even burning and held easily through the first third before I brushed it off.

First third: the draw was excellent at the start and consistent throughout the entire cigar, thick smoke with a full mouthfeel. Fairly smooth with an earthy, leathery taste. I could detect a bit of pepper when letting the smoke roll around in my mouth and retrohaling.

Second third brought more of the same with a bit of dark chocolate as the complexity of the flavors blended together into a really smooth, consistent, enjoyable smoke.

Last third remained consistent initially, and slowly faded to the end in a good way in the sense that when it was finished so was I.

Lastly, I felt like an hour was well spent on my back patio with a couple fingers of bourbon watching the wildlife in the back woods. Thank you Cigar World for the chance to try this cigar. For me this one stacks up with about anything I smoke rated by the experts in the 90-92 range