MEGA Review: Emily (Punch Gran Puro Libertad)

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:06 PM

About the cigar:

Brand: ...... Punch ....................Color: ...... Maduro
Name: ....... Gran Puro Libertad .......Wrapper: .... Honduran
Country: .... Honduras .................Binder: ..... Honduran
Type: ....... Robusto ..................Filler: ..... Honduran
Size: ....... 5x52 .....................Price: ...... $4.00
Strength: ... Med-Full .................Website: .... http://www.punchcigars.us

Information from Cigars International:
A bold step up from the traditional Punch brand.

Introducing, the Punch Gran Puro. That’s right, puro. The ancient Punch brand has now utilized everything that the San Agustin Valley of Honduras has to offer by creating a robust all-Honduran leaf cigar to tantalize your taste buds. But that’s not all; this powerful recipe features a spicy Havana-seed sun-grown wrapper, along with a sun-grown binder. You guessed it: this puppy has some punch (no pun intended). Medium to full bodied, this rich peppery treat will definitely hold your attention for a good hour and a half.

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:06 PM

badwhale: I had the first one of these the day before in the yard. I really enjoyed it, and was looking forward to logging the review.

buzz: Very nice out tonight - me and the dogs, just chilling like villains.

craig: Emily is the best-looking, IMHO.

logan37: A little CS chat, then some online poker.

Mizicke5273: Didn't take too many notes... was enjoying this cigar and the movie too much.

nhab: Out of humi @ 68% RH. Rainy night RH @ 89%.

slcraiders: Shoddy cap work with a couple interesting bumps.

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:07 PM

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:07 PM

PRELIGHT TASTE:

badwhale: Leathery sweet tobacco scent and cut prelight flavor.

buzz: Woody, oily, earthy, black peppery.

craig: Some butter.

EGQ: A little sweet, a little woodsy.

logan37: Earthy and slightly bitter.

Mangyrat: Tobacco.

Mizicke5273: Citrus with hints of fruit.

nhab: Sumatra coffee, roasted nuts, leathery undertones, lightly spicy.

slcraiders: Mild tobacco w/ maybe a little anise.

TachyCoventry: Forgot to do this...

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TASTE (1/3):

badwhale: Leathery tobacco and pepper. Nice balance with some sweetness to it. Some woodsy notes, but overall pretty nice balance of some typical seegar flavors I enjoy.

buzz: Nice pepper and strong. Oily, tons of smoke - erratic burn though.

craig: Dark, earthy, peppery sweet taste. Very strong and very full-bodied. Too much so for me, but the cigar does seem to have the best tobacco of the five. It seems the cigar has to be sipped to get the complexity, although that might just be my now-fried nasal passages.

EGQ: A vast improvement over Carolyn and Dawn - Woodsy, sweet - almost date like taste.

Irish79: Nice draw and fair amount of smoke volume. Floral notes.

logan37: Smoke has a nice spice on it. A woody taste is most prominent with a spicy leather finish. Half way through this 3rd the spice mellowed quite a bit on the draw but remained on the finish.

Mangyrat: Spice and a woody taste.

MemphisFred:

Mizicke5273: Citrus and fruit. Very smooth.

nhab: Creamy roasted coffee, full bodied, mellow, not too spicy.

slcraiders: Very strong, almost bitter start. Immediately mellows into medium range - subtle white pepper. A Tat HVI is the most comparable I can think of...

TachyCoventry: Kind of a barnyard taste, good burn on the nose exhale.

Tdre977: Earthy, light spice, dry finish on the tongue.

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TASTE (2/3):

badwhale: Leather, sweet tobacco, woodsy and some spice with a good balance.

buzz: Burnt coffee, less spice - woody and perhaps a little chocolate in there.

craig: I need to make some cafe cubano to offset the nic hit from this cigar. A good purge midway took the developing bitterness away and woke the tastes back up The purge-flame from this cigar is quite impressive.

EGQ: More of the same.

Irish79: Less floral, more woodsy.

logan37: Spice pretty much gone at this point. Very slight spice on the finish. Just tastes like tobacco right now. Not a bad taste just not much to it.

Mangyrat: Same as the start very consistent.

MemphisFred:

Mizicke5273: The fruit taste has disappeared and has been replaced by a woody/nutty taste with hints of citrus. Still nice and smooth.

slcraiders: No real change ups from first third - just slightly milder and getting some earthy flavors now...

TachyCoventry: Still more of the same barnyard taste.

[QUOTE]Tdre977: Cant put my finger on it, spice faded away, maybe a lil woodsy. Very uneven burn./QUOTE]

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TASTE (3/3):

badwhale: I must have zoned out. I didn't write anything down, but I recall it was similar to the other thirds. I felt this was a stronger cigar nic-wise. Medium body.

buzz: Got a little too bitter at the end and I dropped it with about 2 inches to go.

craig: We're at JdN Antano 1970 strength levels here. I'm dying! Purging every few draws to tone down the pepper shotgun blast.

EGQ: Finished nicely - dare I say there were hints of cocoa and dates - not overly sweet, but a bit sweet.

logan37: The cigar became pretty bitter in this 3rd. Taste was oily. A little spice came back on the finish. Half way through this 3rd flavor became a little nutty and woody. The oil taste left but there was still a light bitterness to the stick. The spice on the finish picked up a bit more. Became more bitter near the end. Too bitter for me to enjoy, so I set her down to die.

Mangyrat: Slightly stronger and more of a spice taste.

MemphisFred:

Mizicke5273: By the third part, the cigar has developed a very strong plain tobacco taste; which is quite nice. Towards the end of the third part, the cigar started to become slightly harsh.

slcraiders: Smoke losing it's volume and I am experiencing some tunneling at the start of the last third - flavor picks up again, but nothing too eventful, IMO.

TachyCoventry: A lot of tar accumulated in the last third, wasn't a huge fan. It may have been better with a cut instead of a punch but who knows!

Tdre977: A touch creamy, but the draw is way too loose, got a good tunnel going on. getting a little harsh. Giving up on her.

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:08 PM

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:08 PM

last words:

buzz: good cigar, will pick up a fiver.

craig: probably the best cigar of the five objectively, but i preferred carolyn's taste profile.

egq: decent smoke.

heftysmokes: really good. Unfortunately, the combination of way too much rum and writing in the dark made my notes pretty much illegible... "farting cat"? Really, hefty?

logan37: "emily, it's not you. It's me. I just want to be friends." (but i'll never call you again.) this lady started out very good, but after a short while became what i'm not looking for.

mangyrat: broken wrapper that i had to keep a finger on or the draw was way too easy. My fault i got carried away when i cut it. I liked this cigar a lot.

memphisfred:

mizicke5273: as i stated at the beginning, i thoroughly enjoyed this smoke, to the point i didn't take many notes. I just couldn't arsed with it and be taken away from the enjoyment of it. :) (buzz's note: I have no idea what "arsed" was supposed to be)

nhab: nice oily maduro wrapper, construction was not very good, cap was sloppy, but solid. The tobacco was rich. Too tired and relaxed to finish. Nice med-full bodied stick.

slcraiders: the name emily smells of expensive. This is not a bad tasting stick. Too bad mine had construction issues. I am hoping these go for less than my price guess.

tachycoventry: not a bad stick, it just didn't have the flavor profile that i prefer.

tdre977: i think i have 1 more emily in my box, i'd like to give her another try, this stick was just giving me some mean burn issues. Photobucket was giving me grief too so i don't have any pics up, just not my night.

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:09 PM

PICTURES:

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**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:09 PM

EDITOR’S NOTE:
These cigars were purchased from RMR Cigar (www.rmrcigar.com). They were running a 30% off special so we were able to pick them up for $57.36 (box of 20). The cigars came nicely packaged in a cedar box, each cigar in a cedar sleeve inside a nice aluminum tube. The lowest box price from the December 2010 CigarCyclopedia's Comparison Shopper is $79.90, coming out to $4.00 per stick. The average price guess was a little high at $6.89.

And so the winner is...

| PARTICIPANT:... | AMANDA | BETTY. | CAROLYN | DAWN.. | EMILY. | TOTAL. |
| TachyCoventry.. | $ 6.68 | $ 1.02 | .$ 0.92 | $ 4.55 | $ 1.16 | $14.33 |
| Irish79 ....... | $ 4.12 | $ 5.72 | .$ 0.00 | $ 3.91 | $ 5.56 | $19.31 |
| EGQ ........... | $ 1.98 | $ 3.58 | .$ 2.56 | $10.83 | $ 3.43 | $22.38 |
| Tdre977 ....... | $ 4.31 | $ 1.50 | .$ 6.08 | $10.83 | $ 2.08 | $24.80 |
| Mangyrat ...... | $ 4.12 | $ 4.93 | .$ 0.92 | $13.39 | $ 1.80 | $25.16 |
| MemphisFred ... | $ 4.12 | $ 4.93 | .$ 0.92 | $11.75 | $ 4.00 | $25.72 |
| badwhale ...... | $ 6.68 | $ 2.66 | .$ 2.56 | $12.91 | $ 1.16 | $25.97 |
| nhab .......... | $ 1.98 | $ 1.02 | .$ 1.35 | $14.71 | $ 7.27 | $26.33 |
| Mizicke5273 ... | $ 2.77 | $ 4.93 | .$ 4.01 | $12.91 | $ 2.08 | $26.70 |
| logan37 ....... | $ 5.04 | $ 5.72 | .$ 4.01 | $10.83 | $ 1.16 | $26.76 |
| slcraiders .... | $ 0.11 | $ 5.72 | .$ 1.35 | $11.75 | $ 8.36 | $27.29 |
| craig ......... | $ 8.00 | $ 2.66 | .$ 3.48 | $10.83 | $ 3.43 | $28.40 |
| heftysmokes ... | $10.20 | $ 7.06 | .$ 0.92 | $ 8.69 | $ 5.56 | $32.43 |
| Alcibiates .... | $10.20 | $ 2.50 | .$ 6.08 | $16.91 | $ 4.00 | $39.69 |

Thanks for participating guys, that was a heck of a lot of fun! Special thanks to ashauler for helping out.

-Buzz

**Mangyrat** · 05-01-2011, 07:25 PM

Great cigar.
I just tried to order a box and that site was down.(www.rmrcigar.com).

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by Mangyrat

Great cigar.
I just tried to order a box and that site was down.(www.rmrcigar.com).

Yeah their site has been down for a month now...

**TachyCoventry** · 05-01-2011, 07:46 PM

Thanks for setting this up Buzz and Ashauler! This was a really fun mega review and I look forward to the next one!

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 07:59 PM

**buzz** · 05-01-2011, 08:20 PM

Tachy - I will send your prize pack ASAP (I just gotta find those dried dog rockets I've been saving in the closet). The pack will include the freebie cigars that were part of the Punch purchase.

And, since he gave a valiant effort and came oh so close, I will be sending a "First Loser" prize pack to Irish79. His pack will include two Barbie dolls and a half-empty bottle of margarita mix. I'll likely throw a lizard in there too. And what the heck, I'm feeling generous, so Tachy will get a lizard too.

**Mizicke5273** · 05-02-2011, 10:05 AM

arsed = "to be bothered"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=arsed

Picked up the habit of saying that on a PC forum I frequent, which is based in the UK.

**buzz** · 05-02-2011, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by Mizicke5273

arsed = "to be bothered"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=arsed

Picked up the habit of saying that on a PC forum I frequent, which is based in the UK.

Ahhh, makes sense now. My brain was worn out from translating all of Mangyrat's descriptions into English.

Gotta love hefty's comment:

Unfortunately, the combination of way too much rum and writing in the dark made my notes pretty much illegible... "farting cat"? Really, hefty?

**badwhale** · 05-02-2011, 10:12 AM

Buzz, please don't send a lizard to Tachy. Poor thing, we'll never know if it survived.

**buzz** · 05-02-2011, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by badwhale

Buzz, please don't send a lizard to Tachy. Poor thing, we'll never know if it survived.

Good point. Tachy, can you give me a go/no-go on sending your prize pack?

**TachyCoventry** · 05-02-2011, 05:20 PM

Go - but I thought that the lizard was already going to be dead before shipping?!

You should already have the address but I can send it again if you need it! Thanks again

**buzz** · 05-03-2011, 06:24 PM

Heads up Tachy: DC# 9405 5036 9930 0089 0473 91

**Irish79** · 05-04-2011, 08:03 AM

Originally Posted by buzz

And, since he gave a valiant effort and came oh so close, I will be sending a "First Loser" prize pack to Irish79. His pack will include two Barbie dolls and a half-empty bottle of margarita mix. I'll likely throw a lizard in there too.

Oh Barbies! I haven't seen the drunken lesbian Barbie playset before.