Decision help. Is 1998 too old for .....

[tippexx]

Sorry to say it ..... but Rok was right

.... Mr Punch did not come up to expectation!

Appearance wise he looked the part with a nice patina of age to the colorado wrapper all be it with a little bit of veining, but nothing that the add-on H&F band didn't help make look extra handsome.

A quick pre-sniff revealed nothing, but that wasn't surprising as my sense of smell isn't that great. Anyway, ashtray cleared, coffee brewed ready to go. Out with the trusty Cuban Crafters cutter, quick circumcision jobby to the nicely put together cap end, roll around betwixt fingers and thumb for a bit, put a bit of pressure onto the band, elasticity all on-the-money. Now onto pre-draw. Is this going to be a plug-Punch special and will I have a problem? No. Absolutely perfect.

Long match struck and away, carefully warm the business end and ignite. A puff or three and we're away. First noticeable thing, the taste. Bitter and very un-Punch like, but that only lasted for a tug or two before becoming a bit more friendly. Second noticeable thing. The burn had taken on something like a 30? angle. Now this was most likely my fault and the result draught from the conservatory window or poor lighting technique. I did try to straighten it, but without much effect, though to Mr Punch's credit he did stay the full distance without any re-lights. The third noticeable thing, or perhapts not noticeable thing, was the lack of aroma in the smoke. Maybe I had expected something extra special in that department from a 12year old, but it wasn't there.

Anyway, after a dodgy start, the taste in the first third mellowed out, but lacked that lemony twang I usually love in Punch. The second half was a bit richer. I would like to pretend I could taste chocolate or cedar notes, but really the taste was just a deeper continuation of the start. The last third was a little more interesting, being much woodier though how much of this was attributable to the build up of tars I don't know. In the end I decided to take the Zino Davidoff route and laid Mr Punch to his final rest with about 2inches remaining.

All in all I would say that for ?7.00 Mr Punch was a bit of a disappointment. I know aged cigars have flavour peaks and troughs and maybe I caught a trough. But, I've smoked better cigars and while I would love to own a box of 'aged' .... I don't think this will be the one.

[tippexx]

.... I've recently located a vintage tres petit corona

That's being a bit secret squirrel Pedro .... come on out with it, which one. Is it the RyJ, not easy to locate those?

[pedro_han]

nice one...same as you I've recently located a vintage tres petit corona..happy hunting tippexx!!

[Vision]

I recently bought a box of Monte from '98 and they are strong.

[ACMCC]

I think double banded cigars always look nicer in the humi Think I'll have a punch too..... good luck with it.

[tippexx]

I c[/FONT][/COLOR]hecked the entry in MRN's book and he rates them first class and age well, whether they are worth the cost is down to how much you like the aged punch flavour profile, the single you brought will answer that question, I for one love it.

This is the little devil Andy, next door to it's humi-mate the slightly longer and I think rarer Partagas Tres Petit. (Sorry about the rotton pic, but the HF bands flare like buggery).

If things go to plan, Mr Punch will feel the flame tomorrow.

[ACMCC]

Punch cigars age very well, although better in cedar cabs as the cedar complements the dried fruits of the punch profile, I have some 98's (RS11's) and they are superb, not had a plugged one yet! Most of the problems came from 99-01 but should you find a plugged one just keep it and return it to HF, this is why you pay the premium for EMS stock, not having any experience with this particular vitola, I checked the entry in MRN's book and he rates them first class and age well, whether they are worth the cost is down to how much you like the aged punch flavour profile, the single you brought will answer that question, I for one love it.

[tippexx]

[QUOTE=rokkitsci;80792]Reasonable? REASONABLE? I can get you a manly smoke (at least 6 x 50) that will last you an hour or more and still totally tickle your taste buds.

Agreed Roc. The taste I can deal with. But, being a bit of a nicotine-woose, it's that, which too often bites my arse when I've tried smoking bigger gauge cigars.

Still, with the Summer coming I can get out into the garden after dinner and give my bigger cigars the time and respect they deserve. The Punch Tres I saw more as an after lunch treat. Pricy yes, no ones going to argue, but they're pretty rare and not the easiest to come by.

[rokkitsci]

WTF?

Well as sure as can be this will be worth buying and the price seems very reasonable to me. Snap it up.

Reasonable? REASONABLE? Holy mutha of ghodz! If you do the conversions, you're paying about ten United Statesian Dollars Coin of the Realm for a little, bitty 4 x 40 smoke. I don't care how good a seegar it is, after 10 minutes, it's GONE! For the same price (actually far less) I can get you a manly smoke (at least 6 x 50) that will last you an hour or more and still totally tickle your taste buds.

But then, you folk may have a different perspective on what is "reasonable," given that you don't use "real" money.

YMMV

[Cigar-aficionado]

[QUOTE=jacques;74349]

This has also been my experience.

What I find really curious though is that there is so much 98 stuff out there. Hardly ever do you see 97. So 98 does seem to belong in some sense to the 99-00-01 period

Higher producrion in those years means more about, although it appears to be going fast. I have only ever had draw problems with 99 and 2000 smokes and then only an odd box such as some 2000 Punch Punch that were almost unsmokeable. I reckon if you get the chance to smoke 12 year old cigars that have smoothed out then take the plunge

[tippexx]

Decision 'CRUNCH' Time!

Seemingly there's a small question mark over the draw on these. But, I sort of figure that 98's are really 96 crop so ought to be well clear of any of the problems associated with the early 2000nd versions.

But just to be sure, I bought a H&F single and now after a month in the humi I think it's time to give it a bash.

[jacques]

[QUOTE=68TriShield;74336]

I never heard or experienced this with NISU (1998) codes. 99 and 2000 of course but not 98s.

This has also been my experience.

What I find really curious though is that there is so much 98 stuff out there. Hardly ever do you see 97. So 98 does seem to belong in some sense to the 99-00-01 period

[68TriShield]

[QUOTE=Stevieboy;74319]

That's pretty well established to be the case Tippex....however, as Nic suggests, if they're from a batch that H&F have recently released with the extra gold band on them then they're likely to be spot-on ....if not, then you pays yer money etc, etc

I never heard or experienced this with NISU (1998) codes. 99 and 2000 of course but not 98s.

[Stevieboy]

[QUOTE=tippexx;74317]

98-00 were known to have draw problems.

That's pretty well established to be the case Tippex....however, as Nic suggests, if they're from a batch that H&F have recently released with the extra gold band on them then they're likely to be spot-on ....if not, then you pays yer money etc, etc

[tippexx]

[QUOTE=Vision;74305]98-00 were known to have draw problems.

Hmmmm ... that doesn't sound so good!