Punch The People’s Champ – Blind Cigar Review

Cigar Info

General Cigar announced a new project for the Punch brand in May of last year called “The People’s Champ.” The cigar was made by consulting thousands of Punch fans called The Punch Brotherhood, an online group of Punch enthusiasts from around the country. The project actually began back in 2019 when the Punch marketers and blenders started gathering feedback on all aspects of the cigar from profile, to size, and packaging. Nearly three years after its inception, the limited edition hit shelves in a 5 x 50 vitola at a modest $6.49.

The People’s Champ is rolled at HATSA in Honduras. The blend uses tobaccos from five different countries including a Honduran Habano wrapper from the Talanga Valley, Mexican San Andreas binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Nicaragua. The People’s Champ is exclusive to brick and mortar stores and only to a select group of Punch retailers across the country. The cigars comes in 5 and 10-count, paper-wrapped bundles.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduran Habano
Binder: Mexican San Andres
Filler: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Factory: STG Danlí
Blender: Agustin Garcia
Number of reviewers: 4 – Jai P. (Jai) Ryan H. (Ryan H.) Quinn (quinnpins269) Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Price: $6.49
Age: 6 Months
Release Date: June 2022
Contributed by: General Cigar

Initial Impressions – Punch The People’s Champ

Appearance: 88

“The medium brown wrapper had some noticeable bumps throughout it. It looks as if the wrapper was not pulled tight enough during the rolling. It had a few small areas that the wrapper was not laying flat.” –Quinn (quinnpins269)

Aroma: 88

“I picked up a salted milk chocolate-like aroma, but it wasn’t exact. It was more like the wrapper of a milk chocolate bar on top of a large salt slab.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

First Third

Flavor: 88
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Light-Medium

“After the first few puffs, the profile came in as a nice medium. There was a pleasant profile of cedar with hints of chocolate. The retrohale offered a bit of pepper but it was never overpowering. The burn was wavy after getting started but as I got into the smoke it did start to correct itself.” –Quinn (quinnpins269)

“Has quite the spicy start about at a cayenne level. There is a very woody note next to join the spice. The profile is good, but it lacks a lot of character, with only wood and spice draw is a little on the tight side.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

Second Third

Flavor: 86
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium

“Starting into the second third the smoke was hit with a fair amount of baking spices and an aroma of fresh gram cracker. It was a very nice transition. I was still picking up some black pepper in the retrohale.” –Quinn (quinnpins269)

“The middle portion of this cigar brought a nutty taste to the blend. Sometimes almond, sometimes macadamia, it seemed to vary between the two flavors. They were still quite light and almost hard to pick out.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Final Third

Flavor: 87
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“The baking spices ramped up a bit in the final third with some pepper starting to come in with every few puffs. The profile felt to have bumped to the medium-full range. I did notice though that the smoke had started to become quite dry. It did not linger much and towards the end it started to get a saltiness to it.”-Quinn (quinnpins269)

“Burnt brown sugar continues to become sweeter and sweeter giving the wood and spice a run for its money. The draw still a little tight but the burn is performing most excellently.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

Overall Impressions – Punch The People’s Champ

Draw: 93

“If anything, this cigar had a great draw. It really hit the sweet spot for me.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Burn: 90

“The burn was great with no touch-ups the entire way.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

Construction: 90

“Overall the construction was good. I did have a few small areas where the wrapper had small tags that had lifted. It looks like it may have not been pulled tight enough when it was rolled onto the cigar. This did not affect the smoking experience though.” –Quinn (quinnpins269)

Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 86

“A monotonous cigar without any changes in flavor. Bold tobacco flavor with hints of black pepper.” –Jai P. (Jai)

“The cigar was pleasing enough, but with the bunch and the draw it certainly took away from the experience. The cigar did have some bitterness, but the last third really shined with the brown sugar joining it was a completely different experience.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)

“This cigar fits the category of a solid medium with a nice overall profile. Nothing to blow your socks off but won’t let you down either.” –Quinn (quinnpins269)

“In the end, I found this was a rather boring cigar. It’s average maybe below average. There was nothing to really keep me entertained and caring about how the cigar was going. The flavors were quite muted and just didn’t do it for me.”-Isaac M. (The Nothing)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 66

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.

Punch The People’s Champ – Blind Cigar Review