Stogie Reviews: Punch After Dinner EMS

5 Sep 2006

Welcome back, Stogie Guys! I hope you all capitalized on the Labor Day holiday by smoking a great cigar (or five). Since the weekend was extra long, today I’m reviewing an extra long cigar – the Punch After Dinner EMS.

This elegant full-bodied cigar is a commanding 7 and ¼ inches by 46 ring gauge with a dark and sandy Ecuador Sumatran wrapper. It’s worth noting that, since the surface was more coarse and veiny than most premium stogies, smokers who pay close attention to the aesthetics of wrappers may not find this cigar to their liking (I would recommend an oily Punch Grand Cru instead).

After snipping the head with a double guillotine cutter and toasting the foot with my torch, the stogie produced irresistible earthy leather flavors with the strongest emphasis on the salty and acidic regions of my palate. About midway into the smoke, the tastes mellowed out and transformed into citrus and sweet notes – a wonderful contrast to the proceeding phase.

This cigar earns high marks for construction: The burn was fairly even, the draw was nice and easy (each puff produced ample smoke), and white ash accumulated nicely on the foot throughout the two-hour smoke. I also noticed the stogie’s mascara (the thin black ring between the ash and the wrapper) produced an outstanding sheen, signaling the tobacco leaves were fully matured when harvested.

Overall, like most Punch cigars, this one’s a keeper. The thin body is a refreshing contrast to the 52 ring gauged behemoths that dominate the American market, the change in flavors is interesting and unique, and – at about $4.50 apiece retail – it’s a steal. I give the Punch After Dinner EMS a solid four out of five stogies.