Punch Golden Era Robusto

A while back, there were a number of reviews on this site that included the word “collaboration,” seemingly the buzzword du jour as brand owners worked with a blender from a certain factory, and implying some sort of one-plus-one-equals-three situation that attempted to elevate a cigar into the realm of being a must-purchase.

While the word collaboration has somewhat fallen out of favor, companies working together for some interesting releases certainly haven’t. Just off the top of my head, Oscar Valladares produced a cigar for E.P. Carrillo, and Oliva Cigar Co. has made cigars for La Palina as well as E.P. Carrillo. Then there are the cigars that AJ Fernandez has made for both Altadis U.S.A. and General Cigar Co.

Whether or not it’s the en vogue thing to do, something driven by factory capacity, or some other consideration, it’s part of the current climate of the premium cigar industry.

In early May, General Cigar Co. began shipping one of these collaborative cigars, the Punch Golden Era, which was made by Fábrica de Puros Aladino at Las Lomas Jamastran, the factory operated by Julio and Justo Eiroa of JRE Tobacco Co., featuring their Honduran-grown tobacco. Specifically, Golden Era uses Honduran corojo for the wrapper and binder, while the filler includes Honduran habano.

“The Eiroa family has perfected corojo tobacco and we are excited to bring it to life with Punch Golden Era,” said John Hakim, brand manager for Punch, in a press release. “This tobacco delivers a silky, golden wrapper, a binder with ideal combustibility and a filler that produces unique spicy notes and a spectrum of nuances. We’re especially pleased to make a true Corojo experience available for cigar lover to enjoy any time the occasion calls for a rich and rewarding smoke.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Punch Golden Era Robusto
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Fábrica de Puros Aladino at Las Lomas Jamastran
• Wrapper: Honduras (Corojo)
• Binder: Honduras (Corojo)
• Filler: Honduras (Habano)
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto
• MSRP: $9.99 (Box of 20, $199.80)
• Release Date: May 1, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

As its name would suggest, the Punch Golden Era Robusto uses a good amount of gold color on the bands, both the primary band and the secondary band that contains a tobacco leaf design, marked by the veins and central stem. I wish the secondary band popped just a bit better, as I like the design, but it takes a bit of work to see it clearly. The wrapper has a medium-brown, matte finish wrapper with even coloration and a network of small veins that keeps it smooth to the touch. I wouldn’t go so far as to describe the Punch Golden Era Robusto as underfilled, but it does have a bit more give than what seems to be the norm for cigars currently. When combining the texture of the wrapper with the density of the cylinder, there is a feeling of softness conveyed. The foot has aromas that remind me of corn cereal, specifically the remnants of a bag that has just been emptied, leaving only a bit of cereal dust. I could make the case for muffin batter as well, a rather pedestrian but familiar aroma. It’s a soft and fairly dry aroma, lacking pepper or a breadth of smells. I’m a bit surprised to find the amount of resistance on the cold draw that I do, given the cigar felt a bit light and had a bit of give. There’s more muffin batter here, while the cereal note is now light bread. There are no bright flavors or pepper, leaving me with the same kind of sensation that a handful of crackers or cereal does; I’ve tasted something, yet I’m not particularly satisfied with or enamored by the flavor.

The Punch Golden Era Robusto starts with a very middle-of-the-road profile, carrying over the soft, bread-forward profile of the cold draw. There’s a bit of creaminess in the profile as well, along with a touch of dry wood that comes out mainly on the finish. What pepper the cigar has comes out through retrohales, adding a very subtle tingle to the nostrils. Just before the first clump of ash drops off, I get my first taste of Honduran terroir, a sensation that increases after the ash drops. There’s a bit of the dry earth mixing with unsalted peanuts, and when combined with the slightly more peppery retrohales, it creates a very enjoyable and increasingly complex profile. There’s also now a touch of creaminess emerging, almost reminding me of condensed milk, and providing a bit of smoothness to the finish. Flavor is medium-minus, body is medium and strength is mild throughout the first third. Construction is great, with a very smooth draw, an even burn line and good smoke production.

The second third of the Punch Golden Era Robusto starts with a bit of a textural change to the smoke, hitting my taste buds with the same kind of sensation as flour-dusted cookies. A bit of dry wood is next into the equation, though both sensations get shoved aside by a retrohale packed with black pepper ahead of the midway point, with a similar shift in the flavor not long behind. Once the burn line is past the midway point, the taste buds get an earthier, richer and more peppery profile with a longer finish that adds a bit of heat. It’s a pretty drastic departure from how the cigar started and gets my senses intrigued as to what the second half of the cigar will offer, though for now, the flavor is pretty locked in and not showing much in the way of changes, preferring to allow the taste buds to process this new profile. Flavor swings from mild-plus to medium-plus in this section, while the body is consistently medium and strength is largely mild but it feels like it could be making a move up the scale in the final puffs of this section.

I’m inclined to call the start of the final third the most complex profile of the Punch Golden Era Robusto, yet also the one that has the most roughness around the edges. The Honduran terroir is still present, driving but not dominating the profile, while a bit of crisp toast has joined the mix. There’s a bright black pepper in the flavor that adds some texture to the smoke, and even more of it waiting for my nostrils in retrohales. But there’s also some woody, earthy richness behind that pepper, and once my senses find it and lock onto it, it gives the profile a new level of complexity and one that I don’t seem to be able to reach without retrohaling the cigar. This new flavor profile carries the cigar to its eventual end, struggling with the pepper to maintain balance but doing an admirable job until it’s time to put the cigar down. Flavor finishes at a solid medium-full, body is medium-plus and strength is medium-minus. Construction is fantastic and near flawless, never needing a relight unless I get distracted by something.

Final Notes

• One of the more notable projects that I remember as being a collaboration between General Cigar Co. and another company was the Warzone, which was a project with Espinosa Premium Cigars that debuted in 2019.
• The Espinosa name appeared on the Warzone’s band, while there is no mention of the Eiroa name on the Punch Golden Era’s bands. If it were up to me, I think I would be inclined to make some mention of my name on the band of a project like this, though I would be interested to know why someone wouldn’t want that.
• While the term golden era seems familiar, I have to think it’s because of the more prominent term Golden Age, which comes from Greek mythology.
• I didn’t find the Punch Golden Era Robusto to offer much in the way of strength. There’s a touch of it in the final third, but nowhere near enough to have me feeling funky.
• General Cigar Co. advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was one hour and 35 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar carry the Punch Golden Era Robusto.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.