Petit Corona del Punch

Measures: 125 mm x 16 mm
Age: The cigar came from a sampler set bought a year ago. I think it's of fairly recent make, probably mid-2004.

Setting: Spring is supposed to be around the corner. Unfortunately, the prevailing high pressures in Scandinavia refuse to acknowledge the calendar, and the temperatures have been 5 to 10 centigrade lower than usual. So the winter is still on us. Still, I don't really mind: the skies have been clear and with plenty of sunshine reflecting from the snow Helsinki is very beautiful. Too bad for cigar smoking though: on this Saturday afternoon I had already taken a promising-looking SLR Lonsdale out of the humidor when I decided that it is too cold outside to smoke anything larger than a Petit Corona. So the SLR went back in to wait for warmer temperatures, and out came a Petit Corona del Punch, a survivor of a big sampler set of Habanos I had bought more than a year ago.

The cigar was clad in EMS-coloured wrapper that felt quite smooth and delicate to my fingers. Overall, the cigar appeared to be a fine sample of workmanship: nice triple cap, very uniform construction that had just the right amount of resilience. The cigar exhibited a slight box press. I cut the cigar, and tried the draw, getting some sweet spice over tobacco flavour.

After lighting the cigar, I was greeted by a very pleasant and balanced flavour over light roasted dry tobacco taste. The flavour had a measured amount of tingling spice - increasing at times to more intensity - with a whiff of some sweet element that I cannot give a name for. I find it impossible to describe my impressions without resorting to allusions suggested by the brand name. So, images of a stereotypical English club, with large leather chairs surrounded by bookshelves (no doubt carrying a complete collection of the Punch magazine bound in leather, in addition to accounts of Boer war and memoirs of colonels of their service in India) fleeted in my mind as I thought "This is an elegant and understated cigar". Indeed, this cigar spoke to me in low voice, in suggestions rather than insistingly, appealing as much to my rationality as to my senses. So, I stopped analysing the flavour, and focused on the actual discourse instead for the remaining 60 minutes of the very relaxing experience.

This was only the second PC del Punch in my smoking career. The previous experience was somewhat marred by a too tight draw and burning issues. Not so this time: the draw was just right, and the cigar burned beautifully, producing light grey ash that held solidly in 1,5 inch increments. A full year of rest had turned the insecure youth to a self-assured gentleman with perfect and pleasant manners.

After this experience, I am increasingly incapable of placing Cuban cigars in a one-dimensional order of preference. I have liked all Petit Coronas I have smoked (well, nearly all) but for so different reasons that direct comparison seems nearly impossible. In what the PC del Punch can deliver so expertly, it has no rival.