Smoked: Punch Gran Puro Santa Rita

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

Punch Gran Puro Santa Rita is a 4 ½ by 52 Honduran puro. The wrapper has some large seams and veins. I’m rediscovering some of my favorite go-to cigars from a decade or so ago. I always enjoyed the Punch Gran Puro Nicaragua. The other day the Santa Rita caught my eye and when I found that it was a Top 10 ranked cigar in 2016 I had to ask myself, “Self, why haven’t you smoked this yet?”

Spicy/peppery, earth, grass/hay , leather, a creamy sour-sweet note, and clove or what I remember of chewing Clove gum as a kid. There is an unmistakable taste to Honduran tobacco that drives the backdrop of the flavor profile of the cigar. It’s medium bodied and full strength.

The draw was perfect, the grey ash was flaky but did hold fairly well, smoke output was abundant, and the burn line was erratic from the get-go.

Punch cigars are usually good everyday go-to sticks. My humidor is well supplied with Classico EMS, London Club, Rare Corojo and a tin of cigarillos. For years, I smoked the Gran Puro Nicaragua. The Santa Rita is a decent stick, but I don’t personally think it quite measures up to the other Punch series.