Punch Dragon Fire

In 2019, General Cigar Co. released the first cigar in what has since become an annual series for the company’s non-Cuban Punch brand. By all accounts, except an explicit acknowledgment, the series is made to coincide with Chinese New Year and the associated symbols on the zodiac calendar. While many companies have followed Davidoff’s lead in using “Year of the ___” for the names of the cigars, General used Americanized Chinese food for the names of the first five cigars in the series, though the 2024 release is a departure from that trend.

The Punch Dragon Fire is a 5 x 60 short gordo that was created to celebrate the year of the dragon on the Chinese zodiac calendar. Blend-wise, the Dragon Fire is made up of a Mexican wrapper covering a binder from Condega, Nicaragua and a filler blend with tobaccos grown in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The MSRP is set at $6.99 per cigar and it is being sold in 20-count boxes, though the company has not announced production numbers for this release.

“The dragon is the only mythological figure in the Chinese zodiac and that inspired us to bring the fire-breathing totem to life with this year’s release,” said John Hakim, brand manager for Punch, in a press release. “We had a blast creating the bold and fiery blend, and gave the cigar a flat head in a nod to the wood dragon that will preside over 2024. And in a shout out to the celebrations that will be sparked by the dragon’s arrival, we made the packaging to look like a box of fireworks.”

The Punch Dragon Fire cigars were rolled at the company’s STG Estelí factory and boxes started shipping to retailers on Feb. 1.

• Cigar Reviewed: Punch Dragon Fire
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: STG Estelí
• Wrapper: Mexico
• Binder: Nicaragua (Condega)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Honduras & Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 60
• Vitola: Short Gordo
• MSRP: $6.99 (Box of 20, $139.80)
• Release Date: Feb. 1, 2024
• Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The flat caps of the Punch Dragon Fire only accentuate how stubby-looking the cigars are, but I have to admit that the exceedingly dry and sandpaper-rough reddish-dark brown wrappers are quite attractive from a visual standpoint. Two of the cigars feature feet that are definitively more oval than round, but the flat caps and covered feet on all three cigars are nice visual touches. Aromas from the wrappers include cocoa nibs, dank earthiness, barnyard, leather and some sweet but generic woody notes. However, a sweet and creamy nuttiness is the strongest scent emanating from the feet of all three cigars, followed by secondary notes of baker’s spices, earth, wood and wet moss. Finally, after punch cuts, the cold draws bring flavors of more gritty earth, creamy hay, oak, nutmeg, leather tack, toasted bread and graham crackers sweetness.

The Punch Dragon Fires start off with a combination of strong spice and bitter espresso; while the spice remains through the first third, the espresso note fades away after about eight puffs. Main flavors of anise and dry hay easily outpace secondary notes that include earth, plain popcorn, dark chocolate, roasted peanuts and light cinnamon, while the retrohales feature a combination of red pepper and maple syrup sweetness. The flavor ends the first third at medium-plus, while the strength and body both land firmly at the medium mark. The draw on my first cigar is a bit loose—albeit still within normal limits; see the Final Notes below for more—but the other two cigars have excellent draws. One cigar runs into enough burn trouble early to necessitate a quick correction, the smoke production was massive off of the feet of all three cigars.

A charred meat flavor combines with a gritty earth note to take over the top spots in the profile during the second third of the Dragon Fire, followed by additional flavors of sourdough bread, cocoa nibs, leather, dry straw and creamy oak. The combination of maple syrup sweetness and red pepper is at about the same level compared to the first third for two of the three cigars, but the final cigar features slightly more of the red pepper note and less sweetness. Flavor bumps up to medium-full, and while the strength ends up at medium-plus by the end of the second third, the body remains at a solid medium. Once again, there’s one cigar, albeit not the same cigar from the first, that runs into some minor burn issues that need to be corrected with my lighter, but all other construction aspects are moving along smoothly.

While the charred meat flavor remains at the top of the profile, the gritty earth flavor that was so prominent in the second third recedes to the background by the time the final third begins, replaced by a distinct oak flavor. Secondary notes of coffee beans, dark chocolate, hay, roasted peanuts, earth and very light citrus peel make themselves known at various points, while the familiar red pepper and maple syrup sweetness continues to dominate the retrohales on all three cigars. Flavor and strength end at medium-full, while the body is just under that at medium-plus. One cigar needs a touch-up with my lighter just as the final third begins, but the smoke production and draws are excellent until the end.

Final Notes

• According to the company, the cigar’s pressed head and semi-closed foot are meant to mimic the casing of a firework.
• Kudos to General Cigar Co. for naming this release something other than Year of the Dragon.
• At this point in time, there are more than 10 cigar companies that have announced or released Zodiac-themed cigars: Davidoff’s Zodiac Series is perhaps the most well-known, but the list also includes Asylum, Drew Estate, El Septimo, Habanos S.A., JM Tobacco, La Galera, Oliva, Maya Selva, Plasencia, Rocky Patel, United Cigars and Vega Fina. There are some accessories as well.
• I am glad I happened to be reviewing a punch cutter—no pun intended, I assure you—while smoking this cigar because the flat cap really lends itself to that style of cutter. That said, although I used a medium-sized punch on the first cigar and ended up with a draw that was a bit loose, switching to a smaller punch solved that minor issue nicely.
• Even knowing how inexpensive the rest of the cigars in the series have been, I was a bit taken aback by the $6.99 price tag of this release.

• Each cigar had a different sentence printed on the inside of the band. I do not know if every cigar in the box has a different band.
• As I mentioned above, the feet on two of the three cigars I smoked for this review were more oval than circular. However, all three cigars featured a semi-closed foot, i.e. when the wrapper covers the outer rim of the foot but leaves the middle open.

• All three cigars measured quite close to the official size of 5 x 60.
• General Cigar Co. advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• The final smoking time for all three cigars averaged out to two hours and six minutes.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct and JR Cigar carry the Punch Dragon Fire.