Punch Medalla D’Oro RE 2012 Review

Ladies and gentlemen, it is quite an exciting event to review for your reading pleasure the Punch Medalla D’Oro. Not only is it a UK regional exclusive, it is named quite appropriately to commemorate the year the Olympics came to London. The Medalla D’Oro translates to Gold Medal. The question is, costing 28 of our british smackers, is this dobles sized vitola ‘punch’ing for the gold, or is it a gimmick? Let’s not forget, this puts it in heavyweight territory. Cigars such as the Cohiba Maduro 5 Genios and the Montecristo Sublimes EL 2008. So without further a do, let’s get down to business and find out!

Vital Statistics:

Punch Medalla D’Oro
Ring: 50
Length: 6 1/8″
Price: £ 28.00 Per stick at Humibros.com

 

Visual Inspection:

Ok, so as much as this shouldn’t affect our decision on the quality of the cigar, we have to mention the spectacular presentation of these cigars. Presented in a varnished box within which all 10 cigars are individually wrapped in a gold EMS (English Market Selection) foil up to the RE ring and naked at the cap, we have to admit; this is one sexy temptress. And as is the way of our psyche, when something looks good, our brain tells us it tastes good too. undressing the foil delicately, we are given a perfect blemish-free medium colour wrapper.

 

Pre-light Draw:

There’s a nice smooth draw through the cigar. Perhaps a little loose. That’s ok. Nothing too major and to be honest it’s one of those things that will come down to preference. I seldom find people agreeing on the same standard for ‘perfect’ draw.

 

Flavour:

Isn’t this the part most people want to read? It is for us. It’s what we call ‘the good stuff’. Here’s where we will really see the Punch trying to live up to that rather high price tag.

The cigar starts off with some leathery tones, and just a hint of woody notes. as the cigar develops we get a sweeter leathery tone although just a touch sweeter and eventually we started losing the woody goodness. The sweetness and leather develops in to a lovely nutty flavour. Perhaps the most disappointing thing is that this flavour develops through the first half and then remains a constant. We would have loved to have been given a few more twists and turns on our journey to the gold medal. a few Rocky Balboa moments where just when you think the last punch has been thrown, the Medalla D’Oro get’s up for the third time and knocks your block off with a final flurry of aroma. It unfortunately wasn’t the case. Still, not to be too disheartened, we were pleased with the flavours that were there and it certainly made for a lovely medium smoke.

 

Burn:

a grand total of 2 corrections along the way. Not a problem although we do hate having to correct our cigars.

 

Wrap-up:

We don’t hate the Punch Medalla D’Oro. We actually quite like it. The grudge we have is the price. As a smoke, we couldn’t justify paying so much for what is just an average cuban smoke. It doesn’t seem to offer a great deal for the price it’s commanding. That’s IF you’re considering smoking them. Here’s our Rocky Balboa moment right here. The Punch Medalla D’Oro was produced in a limited quantity of 3000 boxes of 10 cigars. With the growing popularity of cigars, and the rocketing price of limited-quantity, well-aged cigars, could the Punch Medalla D’Oro be our next investment opportunity?

 

Let us know what you think of the Medalla D’Oro in the comments below;