Vitola: Rothschild- 4.5” x 50 ring gauge
- ~$4.50
- Purchased from Burns Tobacconist
Background
So apparently this was going to be an April Fools joke. According to one industry insider, anyway. General was talking about announcing the Punch Egg Roll on April 1 as a prank, but people inside the company actually wanted to see the cigar happen, so…
Egg Roll shipped in a single size, a shaggy-footed Rothschild, and it was limited to 75,000 sticks. That doesn’t sound like a really limited run, but they shop I work at went through 10 boxes of 25 sticks in less than 2 weeks, which is really fast. They came in boxes modeled after Chinese take-out and the bands featured one of five fortunes on the inside of them. They also reference the Chinese Year of the Pig, so this is likely to be an annual release.
The blend consisted of Colombian, Mexican, Dominican and American fillers, an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder, and a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. At this point, General reportedly has no more to ship to retailers, so if your local shop didn’t get them, you are out of luck. I ended up purchasing about 15 of these and have already smoked 7 or 8 before getting to this review sample. I took some background info from Cigar-Coop’s news story.
Leaf Enthusiast sponsor, Small Batch Cigar, does have the Egg Roll listed on their site, but it is out of stock at this time.
Prelight
I love the box for this release. It’s a fun and innovative way to package a limited release cigar…definitely attention-grabbing. The band is one of the most eye-catching in the Punch catalog, with a white background and bright red foil for text and artwork. The central circle has a Chinese symbol that is repeated in beige as a background pattern, while flanking circles show tobacco leaves and Mr. Punch, among other things. I tried drawing the symbol in a Chinese English Dictionary website and the closest match meant “to hit; to strike; to break”…so I’m guessing it’s roughly Chinese for “Punch.”
The wrapper leaf was a dark roast coffee brown with a slightly oily feel and a strong earthy aroma. The contrast with the binder showing at the shaggy foot was great, with that being a more medium-brown and much rougher looking. The foot of the cigar had a mix of earth, cedar and hay notes.
Once cut, the Punch Egg Roll had a good draw with flavors of earth and wood, cocoa powder and espresso bean.
Flavor
This implementation of the shaggy foot has around a quarter inch of binder/filler exposed with no wrapper covering them. It lights up fairly quickly, although I’ve found through multiple samples that you may have to hit it a little more than you think to make sure it stays lit. Once going it gives up hay and earth flavors right away, with a lesser wood note underneath, then some cinnamon heat on the finish. The retrohale has more of a peppery note, but there is still some cinnamon in it. Once the wrapper started burning, too, the bodied immediately jumped from medium up to medium-full. I got a semi-sweet chocolate note and more pepper spice on the palate and the pepper on the nose got very intense.
As I got into the second third, the chocolate notes got stronger while earth and cedar faded somewhat. Peppery notes continued strong on both palate and nose; there was still a bit of cinnamon in both places, as well.
The pepper faded a bit in the final third, where the overwhelming flavors were of espresso beans and dark chocolate, with earth right behind.
Construction
All samples I’ve had of the Egg Roll have had great draw, very even burn line and solid ash.
Value
This cigar would be good at twice the $4 MSRP. Outstanding value!
Conclusions
Punch Egg Roll was a surprise in more ways than one. Surprising that it even happened. Surprising that it is so cheap. Surprising that it is so good. Really, I would challenge you to find a better, more complex and satisfying cigar for $4 (or even the $4.50 they are at the shop where I work). Great mix of flavors in a compact size that’s great for cooler weather, great for my 45 minute drive home…great for just about any time, for that matter. I do hope they abandon the idea of making a limited number of these every year and just make them a regular release.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
I picked up a couple of these at my local store. Going to go back and try to get more! I agree, it’s a wonderful cigar in many ways. If it becomes regular production I will buy them by the carton!