Guest Review - Punch Royal Selection No.12

OLScigars thanks a reader for helping with an idea from a few weeks ago, that regulars around here might want to contribute guest reviews from time to time, and Anthony M. of Washington up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest came through with an interesting review of one of my favorite cigars, the Punch Royal Selection No.12.  I have only had the 99-00 versions of this cigar, which are great, but he had recently gotten ahold of some 2009 stock and I was curious.  What are these cigars like FRESH?  So without further blablabla from me, here is Anthony's double take on this legend.

Punch Royal Selection No.12 - 99 versus 09

After talking with OLS I decided to write a review on this 2009 Punch Royal Selection No.12.  It started out for me as just another cigar I would smoke a few times and give my uneducated palate and grammar skills a try with.  The first one was fresh out of a new box, it only had about a week in the humidor, but I couldn't wait any longer. ( I should have)  It was of good construction and color, light brown with no obvious flaws.  It still had the cedar box smell with some faint tobacco.  I cut and lit it; it was harsh for the first half-inch or so, just as you might expect from a young cigar.  The burn was even but it had trouble staying lit.  The rest of the cigar was pretty much one dimensional with notes of cedar and pepper spice.  Not bad, just not what I was hoping for. 

So I waited a few weeks and made my next trip to the cigar bar with the RS12 ready to smoke.  I met up with a good friend and we sat down and ordered ourselves a beer and started to BS.  He already knows I'm having this Punch for the second time, but he has a twist to throw into my plans.  He hands over the same cigar, but from 1999.  I couldn't say no, we swap over, a 1999 for a 2009.  The color is the same on both sticks, but the taste could not be farther apart.  The pre-light draw brings a flowery, fruity flavor I've never had.  The cigar lights perfectly and we are on our way.  The taste of fruit doesn't stay long, with a light leather and faint spice in the background.  I would say this is a medium to strong cigar with flavor changing about every third puff.  I wish I had a better palate so I could explain all the things I am tasting, but I don't, so just take my word for it, it's GOOD.  I took this cigar all the way to my fingertips and it burned well the whole time. 

So it's Friday, and I am ready to try the 2009 RS12 again.  It lights just fine with a strong, earthy leather taste and a strong pepper spice that lingers on the palate for a good amount of time.  I'm by nature a faster smoker and tend to get my cigars too hot.  With this one, I really need to slow down to get any kind of different flavors and even with that they are hard to pick up on.  When I reach the middle of it, the flavor really starts to mellow out and I can almost get hints of the 1999 profile.  It only lasts for an inch or so and it's back to strong spice and leather.  I like a stronger cigar, so it's fine with me.

I'm not going to rate either cigar with a number, I just don't find it to be fair.  If you like the Punch's profile it's definitely worth trying...if you have the patience to wait ten years, DO IT!  As for me, I don't have that kind of patience.  I'll revisit these in a few months and see how much closer they are to that 1999 flavor.  It's kind of like watching a good movie backwards.  Oh well, it's definitely worth finding out what a cigar could do with time.

I'd like to thank Ant'ny for his effort here, I have smoked a bunch of old cigars, but never really had a chance to compare two in this way.  I think I will check into doing a few like this soon.