UPPER CUT OMETEPE - 88.50

I enjoyed this cigar. I could not find any discernable flavors, but it still had a very mild taste and smoked well.

Punch is a venerable brand and is one of a portfolio of well known brands owned by the Cigar General Co., one of the bigger companies in the industry. Their brands include Macanudo, La Gloria Cubano, Partagas and a host of others. The Punch Upper Cut puts the image of Ometepe and its twin volcanoes on its footband. Cigar Aficionado states that the Ometepe region in Nicaragua grows "intriguing" tobacco. General Cigar owns much of the growing fields in this region and the Upper Cut is filled with Ometepe region tobacco.

Here is a review from bullz-eye.com:

Look and feel

The cigar looked more expensive than its retail price point, the banding with the picutured volcano definitely dressed the cigar up, but its nice oily, deep brown wrapper was impressive even without these bands. I saw nothing to complain about in its construction, as it seemed packed nicely. The cigar was wrapped and filled in a quality manner.


Aroma and Taste

When I first lit up, I was struck by a nice, balanced dose of pepper and spice. The pepper subsided somewhat after five minutes of smoking and morphed into a traditional, rich tobacco flavor with some leather flavor as well. The flavor stayed generally the same, with some wood flavor coming and going throughout. I especially thought the draw and burn on the cigar also was good. The aroma was nothing too noteworthy, but it was certainly fine. I do believe that this is probably going to be one of my favorite Punch brand cigars going forward, as it has a medium to full profile. With that said, I must admit that I do not smoke a lot of Punch cigars. I think the brand is positioned very well with a consistent, good value smoke for your money. The cigars themselves are typically not too complex in flavor but the consistency is there and the smoker knows what they are getting. Many smokers value this in a cigar, probably more than I do.