BOTL blind summer reviews cigar No.4

[Hot_Sauce]

Punch Churchill PAS Jul 2000


Reviewer No.1

Pre-Smoke
Apperance and Construction
Color – Colorado
Texture – Medium
Cap – Well made
Bunch – firm
Comments:
/10

Aroma/Bouquet
Aroma – Medium
Pre-light Draw – Consult flavor wheel meduim tobacco flavor with leather
Comments:
/10

Smoke
Burn
Burn – slightly uneven needed a few touch up's
Coal – flat
Combustion – medium
Ash color – gray/black
Ash structure - typical
Comments:
/10
Draw
Draw - tight plugged
Smoke volume – modest none
Comments:
/10

Flavor
Richness – meduim
Balance - okay
Strength - medium,
Body -, medium,

First Third This cigar looks a little rough as the wrapper has some viens and is slightly coarse to the touch. Cigar is in the round. Cut will with my Xiker. Fired it up and I could hardly draw any smoke at all through it. After about a 1/2 inch down I requested a draw poker from the cigar lounge. That helped my this cigar smokable but I had to rorate it to find which side was the one that wanted to draw. Cigar starts out with some herbal sweetness.




Second Third This cigar is still drawing and burning kind of rough. If it wasn't for the reviews I probably would have given up on it and fired up something else that didn't require so much work to smoke. The herbal flavors are still there but are fading some and I can taste some woodsyness and light salt. Meduim bodied and strenght.


Last Third: I taste light herds, wood and leather. Just wish I didn't have to struggle with it as I'm enjoying it. A great cigar to relax and enjoy as it's not to mild or overpowering.

/20

Finish/Aftertaste
Sweetness – light,
Bitterness – light,
Acidity: – none,
Saltiness – light,
Finish – medium,



/20

Summery (your overall impression. How did this cigar leave you?)
/20

Appearance/Construction 7/10
Burn 6/10
Draw 6/10
Aroma/Bouquet 8/10
Flavor 17/20
Finish/Aftertaste 17/20in
Summery 15/20



Total score out of 100 points being the perfect cigar. From the scoring system it gets a 75. But if it didn't have the draw and burn issues. It would easily scored in the low to mid 80's. I look forward to giving this cigar another chance to prove itself.

Reviewer No.2

Prelight

Silky smooth light brown wrapper on this slightly box pressed cigar. Foot gave a slightly sweet tobacco flavor, as did the cold draw.

First Third

This cigar lit well, and produced a light aroma.
Initial notes of white chocolate and a slight note of salt over a background of leather and wood. Beautiful dense, dark ash. The draw is extraordinary, especially for a Churchill.

Second Third

During the last part of the 2/3, the flavor profile turned heavier and slightly vegetal; producing a slightly sour finish. The background changed to oatmeal, dark coffee and leather. The draw remained excellent, and the ash was strong and packed….A well made cigar.

Last Third

The heavier notes mellowed a bit, and lost the sour edge. The background remained strong with earth and burned wheat toast…Kina like a Boli! Hmmmm
At this point the cigar really grew in strength and power. The nicotine buzz began, yet somehow notes of milk chocolate and figs darted in and out.
The burn, draw and ash remained top notch, with ample amounts of smoke with each draw.

Closing

Superb craftsmanship, despite a short lived run of sourness near the middle. This was a nice cigar that shifted gears several times and delivered an enjoyable experience. I usually don’t hazard a guess, but I think this may be a Boli Coronas Gigantes.

80/100


Reviewer No.3

I enjoyed this cigar on my parents’ front porch early in the morning as I couldn’t sleep. So I sized this cigar up at 4:30 AM on a Saturday. There must be something wrong with me! This was a Churchill sized cigar that felt slightly rough, almost like suede. The wrapper was a medium brown color with a green spot on it and no major veins to speak of. The triple cap was beautifully done. It had a firmly packed feel when I squeezed it. When I clipped the cap with my Swiss Army Knife I noticed the draw was nice, not too loose and not too firm. I noted some sweet, earthy notes on the pre light draw.

My initial impressions were that this cigar gave a very nice body of smoke, a big smoke cloud. The tastes were sweet and sour. I got bready flavors and I was almost reminded of pickling spice. The draw was very good. The burn was weird initially, having a very jagged edge, but after the first inch it settled down and straightened out. The aroma was very pleasant.

At about the halfway point the flavors intensified and became just a little spicy and woodsy. I also started to get a toasted bread flavor. The sweet and sour flavors became less pronounced at this point also. The burn started going a bit slanted at about this point also and reacted like that during the remainder of the cigar. Aroma and body of smoke were still very good.

During the last third of the cigar the burn got worse and I had to correct the burn numerous times. I also purged the cigar and the flavors mellowed a bit, but the cigar started to become bitter at about the last two inches so I put it out at that point.

I know that this cigar is a Punch Churchill because it is the only Churchill sized cigar we have, and that is what I provided. Just to let everyone know. It was a good cigar but not great. I don’t remember the cigars from this box having this much burn problems. I only have one left so I will check that out later this week I think. The flavors were a little on the sour side for my liking and not what I usually get from Punch cigars, but indicative of the profile from this particular box.
Scores:
Appearance: 9/10
Burn: 5/10
Draw: 10/10
Aroma: 9/10
Flavor: 14/20
Summary: 14/20

Total: 81
__________________


Reviewer No.4

Blind Review #4-Churchill

Pre-Smoke
Apperance and Construction-nice wrapper, firm but managable draw
Color – Colorado
Texture – smooth
Cap – Well made
Bunch –firm
Comments--
7/10

Aroma/Bouquet-
Aroma – Medium
Pre-light Draw – ok
Comments: no pre-lite taste
7/10

Smoke
Burn – even
Coal – flat
Combustion – complete
Ash color – gray
Ash structure -solid
Comments:
8/10

Draw
Draw - good
Smoke volume – medium
Comments:
8/10

Flavor
Richness –no
Balance - good
Strength -mild
Body -mild
First Third--woody
Second Third--woody
Last Third--woody, creamy with an earthy finish
16/20

Finish/Aftertaste
Sweetness – none
Bitterness – none
Acidity: – light
Saltiness – light
Finish –medium

17/20

Summery-A very mild cigar with no flavor changes until the last 1-1/2"
17-20

Appearance/Construction 7/10
Burn 7/10
Draw 8/10
Aroma/Bouquet 8/10
Flavor 16/20
Finish/Aftertaste 17/20
Summery 17/20

A mild cigar with a good draw that could easily be a golf/yard gar.

Score 80 HDM Churchill from 99-01.


Reviewer No.5


Review #4 Julieta

Pre-Smoke
Apperance and Construction:

Color – Colorado
Texture – Neat with slight veins.
Cap – Well made, squared cap
Bunch – dense but not firm
Comments:
Clean cut, both foot & head had a nice bunch

9/10

Aroma/Bouquet
Aroma – Mild
Pre-light Draw – sweet & tobacco
Comments:
9/10

Smoke
Burn
Burn – even
Coal – flat
Combustion – smoldering
Ash color – mottled gray
Ash structure - a little flaky
Comments:
9/10

Draw
Draw - firm- slight resistance but overall good draw
Smoke volume – abundant
Comments:mouthful of smoke tastes of sweet tobacco & wood on exhale.
10/10

Flavor
Richness – medium
Balance -balanced,
Strength - full
Body - full
First Third - slight wood & mild tobacco, peppery.
Second Third - creamy & still spicy very full bodied
Last Third - Still creamy, more pronounced spice with a lot of cardamom undertones and maybe a little leather
18/20

Finish/Aftertaste
Sweetness – light
Bitterness – medium full
Acidity: – none,
Saltiness –light
Finish – Very long finish

First Third
Second Third
Last Third

18/20

Summery (your overall impression. How did this cigar leave you?)
19/20

Appearance/Construction 9/10
Burn 9/10
Draw 10/10
Aroma/Bouquet 9/10
Flavor 18/20
Finish/Aftertaste 18/20in
Summery 19/20


Guess as to what the cigar was that you smoked?
Partagas Churchills de Lux, maybe 99-03?
Total score out of 100 points being the perfect cigar.
92/100

 

[Hot_Sauce]

Reviewer No.6

Pre-Smoke
Appearance and Construction
Color – Colorado
Texture – Fine
Cap – Well made triple cap
Bunch – firm feel
Comments:
10/10

Aroma/Bouquet
Aroma – Medium good ambient aroma
Pre-light Draw – Consult flavor wheel
Comments: light tobacco flavor
9/10

Smoke
Burn
Burn – slight uneven tendency
Coal – slight Tunnel
Combustion –complete
Ash color –dark gray/ black
Ash structure -
Comments:
8/10
Draw
Draw - tight draw but except able
Smoke volume – modest
Comments:Modest amounts of smoke with great ambient aroma
8/10
Flavor
Richness –medium
Balance - one dimensional
Strength - medium
Body - medium, generous, thick
First Third Mild medium
Second Third Medium
Last Third Medium

17/20

Finish/Aftertaste
Sweetness pronounced
Bitterness – medium
Acidity: – medium
Saltiness – none
Finish – short

First Third Medium sweetness/no bitterness
Second Third medium sweetness/slight bitterness
Last Third Bitter
16/20
Summery (your overall impression. How did this cigar leave you?)
17/20
Churchill sized cigar with a nice feel and weight. Construction was great as well. Cigar started out very nice w some spice and sweetness. Also had notes of slight cinnamon at start. 2nd third seemed to bring some young ness to it with a slight bitterness coming on to it. Presented with a nice burnt caramel in the 2nd half as well. I think it's a RYJ Churchill at this time. Long finish during the cigar but faded at the end(3rd). Bitterness really came on towards the end as well. I enjoyed this cigar but feel it may need a couple more years. Several relights and uneven burned took my enjoyment out of the second half as well.
What cigar? RYJ Churchill from 06? 85/100

 

[Jfire]

Not only did I not guess it. I smoked this same stick from a diff year 2 weeks earlier. I need to retire my cigar smoking review career. Lol

 

[Hot_Sauce]

It's funny how we can't peg cigars we smoke in blind reviews sometimes. The first round of BOTL blind reviews we had. (it was the PC sized) I didn't even guess my own cigar that I donated.

 

[tubaman]

It's funny how we can't peg cigars we smoke in blind reviews sometimes. The first round of BOTL blind reviews we had. (it was the PC sized) I didn't even guess my own cigar that I donated.

LOL, you know, come to think of it I probably would not have guessed punch myself.

 

[indyrob]

LOL, you know, come to think of it I probably would not have guessed punch myself.

I know I didn't Kev. I even told you in that PM that I *knew* it was a Partagas because of the finish!

I actually liked this cigar a whole lot. It wasn't bitter for me but it was a spicy som'bitch which I dig. Interesting that my cigar drew like a champ and smoked well...which is what we kinda expect for the 2000's. Either it's a friggin trash or on like Donkey Kong.