Punch Monarca 1997

Measures: 173 mm x 17 mm
Age: This cigar is from the stash of a cigar-smoking colleague and dates from 1997.

Setting: Today's weather in Helsinki was cloudy, with a chance of rain. As I felt tired after indulging in outdoor activities for much of the last two weeks, I decided to take this day easily and spend it on resting and reading the Karsten Alnæs book on European history. After lunch I felt also the craving of a good cigar, and decided that the time would be right to enjoy the Punch Monarca that I had received from shrink already some time ago.

The cigar was clad in beautiful colorado wrapper exhibiting a bit of teeth and a perfectly executed triple cap. Even after the long rest, it still felt oily and smelled of the familiar barnyard aromas. The construction appeared top notch; to my fingers the cigar had a very uniform feel with just the right amount of resilience, telling me that it had been aged in perfect conditions. "Looks good", I said to myself. So, I clipped the cigar and tried to draw, which confirmed by expectations by being a bit resistive, just in the right manner. I sensed a nice cold aroma of toasted tobacco, with hints of exotic fruits - mango?

After lighting the cigar, it started surprisingly slowly slow and peacefully - the first pulls were gave me only sense of pure toasted tobacco, with the flavour becoming present only slowly. After the first inch, things nevertheless had got going. The tobacco taste tingled deep in my palate, covered with a very satisfactory warm, earthy and creamy aroma with just a bit of spice. This intensified considerably during the process of smoking, nevertheless never becoming harsh or bitter, just as one might expect from a cigar that has reached school-going age. At later stages, the power of the cigar became quite apparent as my head started to feel a bit light. I nubbed the cigar anyway, but I think I might not have been able to handle another inch of it - at last the intensity of the flavour was on the brink of becoming overwhelming. Technically, the cigar was perfect: it burned absolutely evenly throughout the whole smoking session, requiring no further help.

This was my first encounter with the Monarca. I think I could sense the clean Punch profile that I have found in other cigars of this marca. I was especially reminded of the '01 Super Selection #2 I had smoked last week; the Monarca was nevertheless much smoother and lacked the tannins that still were present in the younger cigar. But make no mistake: this is a bold cigar that requires a special moment.