This week I moved on to a full-bodied cigar that has graced my humidor from the early days of my endless cigar search. I don’t always feel like smoking a power house, but when I do, the Cuban Punch Punch is a popular choice.

I pulled this from the humidor and was pleasantly surprised by the construction: a beautiful reddish wrapper with no kinks or wrinkles, excellent bunching, and a picture perfect triple cap. The unlit wrapper gives off very typical notes of sweet spice, graphite, pepper and light butter.

I lit this one with a cigar match, because I’ve gotten some emails asking how this is done, and the first few puffs rewarded with the usual light leather and sweet wood notes of a Punch Punch. Hopefully, at this point anyone will realize the power potential of this beauty and will take it nice and slow. Over puffing on this corona gorda may cause the whole experience to go south quickly. Star it up slowly, take it easy and enjoy the full flavor this cigar has to offer to the very nub.

The cigar is frank. There is a leather note present through out, which I find very palatable, though it does increase steadily through out the smoke. An inch or so into this, as the leather picks up, there are other notes of bell and chili pepper that are noticeable, and which compliment the leather well.

Notice the solid ash and the great burn; I didn’t touch it at all through out. After the half way mark, some sweet cedar begins to accompany increasing leather and coffee bean notes. The medium finish has graphite and cedar.This is a very solid and earthy smoke that always pleases those with a penchant for a full-bodied cigar. Highly recommended.

As you could’ve guessed there’s no way I was about to leave the Hennessy distillery without bringing something special home. We eventually made it to the tasting counter where we were about to sample four different cognacs and I was excited like they were about to give out money!

We had some stuff which they normally serve as a cocktail mix because it’s just not complex enough for the connoisseur. I had it pat and with ginger ale and agreed with them that I probably wouldn’t drink it pat. I mean, it was great, but nothing really special.

We went on to sample two more, both marketed as cognac for the cognac lover. I had the XO, which I’ve had many times in the past, and of which I remain a big fan to this day, but they also had something new, which they called Fine de Champagne.

This stuff is obviously not like a Hennessy XO, but it was certainly delightful: made with over sixty eau de vie’s, it boasts a wonderful amber hue, an awesome nose full of orange blossoms, honey, and maybe even some pepper, good viscosity, and a fresh palate with plenty of zest, wood, and spice. Come to think of it, as I sip it now, it has a nice touch of French Brioche as well, which explains how well it went with my H. Upmann from earlier.

I really enjoyed this one for its finesse, but even more I appreciated the price. I was able to get his for 30 euros at the Hennessey shop. If you enjoy your cognac pat or with ice only, you’ll appreciate this one, and if someone wants to mix it, you won’t feel guilty because of the great price. A++

Who can deny that the general quality of Cuban cigars has steadily declined over the years? At the same time, the American market driven non-Cuban brands have done the exact opposite. I maintain that it is entirely possible for a seasoned smoker of quality Nicaraguan, Dominican, or Honduran cigars to find their first experience with a genuine Habano disappointing. Perhaps the cigar will be rolled too tightly or sloppily, perhaps it will be moldy or beetle infested; whatever the case, if you’re going to smoke a “first” Cuban cigar make sure it is flawless, like this H. Upmann Magnum 46.

Upon inspecting this Corona Gorda, the banded version of the Magnum 46, you can tell that it is well made indeed: firm, evenly bunched, oily, and boasting a perfect triple cap. The aromas of this H. Upmann wrapper are delightfully sweet with some faint cacao and maybe a little cinnamon. I don’t get much of a peppery taste in these, just the delicate sweet notes.

Lighting it up yields very aromatic plumes of dense smoke. The aromas remind me of a freshly baked French brioche. The first few puffs are actually on the milder side but sweet, creamy and spiced. The first puffs achieved, this cigar begins to progress and evolve in a steady way before reaching a solid medium body at around the first quarter mark.

It stays very creamy throughout the first half, moving from the sweet spice and cacao notes at the onset toward darker notes of roasted coffee beans accented by sweet wood and faint chocolate. A bit of leather begins to come through at this point as well as some white pepper which continue all the way to the finale.

Nothing makes me more happy than a cigar that continues to burn evenly to the nub, and the H. Upmann Magnum 46 does just that and with a good length of solid gray ash too. The body picks up again in the last two inches and the notes turn to richer leather, espresso, and a distinct musty sweetness that reminds me of the initial sweet spice and woody notes.

This stick is perfect and a tribute to the Cuban cigar industry of old: awesome, perfectly aged Cuban tobacco that is masterfully rolled to great drawing and razor burning perfection. Let the medium long finish delight you well after the cigar is put to rest.

At a price of about $10.00 per stick I can’t imagine letting these run out in my humidor. Feel free to take this Corona Gorda to the glorious nub every time.

I want to switch gears quickly here if I may and go from southern Spain to the town of Cognac in central France. A recent business trip took me nearby and I couldn’t resist the urge to spend a day there, and tour the Hennessy cognac distillery located at the heart of the tiny town and right on the banks of the Charente river. I was surprised by how “off-the-beaten-path” the whole experience seemed, but must say that an absence of all the tourists probably did make the trip all the more enjoyable.

As you can imagine, there are vineyards everywhere around the town. It turns out that most quality Cognac is actually made primarily of grapes that are grown in three rather small areas of the town called Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, and Borderies, though, in addition, it can technically also contain a certain percentage of grapes from three other areas called Fin Bois, Bon Bois, and Bois Ordinaries. Whatever the case, following the seasonal harvest, the grapes undergo fermentation separately by grape variety and area of origin. The three grape varieties that are grown the various areas within Cognac are called Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard.

The thin wine that is produced by the fermentation process then undergoes two serial distillations in very traditional copper alembics. The first of the two produces a rather weak spirit, called brouillis, that retains a lot of the original character of the grape. The brouillis is then returned to the boiler to undergo the second distillation which yields a target spirit of about 70% alcohol which is termed the eau de vie.

It takes a cellar master at this point, all of whom have long family histories in the trade, to make a critical decision: how to marry each batch of distillate with a particular oak barrel, pairing them according to the individual characteristics of both the oak, used to manufacture each hand-made barrel, and of the eau de vie, attempting to predict how they will evolve together during the aging process to bring out the very best of the eau de vie’s potential.

That task achieved, the aging process begins and continues somewhat endlessly. I say that because, although each eau de vie batch will be used, a bit at a time, for creating the various final cognac blends destined for the market, the remainder continues to age and evolve until it is all used up.

Some of the oldest batches we got to see at the cellar dated as far back as the mid 1800’s, and all have been used to some extent in the production of Hennessy’s line of cognacs.

For creating a cognac, the cellar master then simply creates a formula containing over a hundred different eau de vie batches from the cellar. He may experiment with different batches, blending them into a final tester in an attempt to create something new or, in the case of the most renowned cognacs, to capture the essence and spirit of a particular line with remarkable consistency. Cognac, then, is not really the product of a single distillation and aging, but a skillful blend of many carefully selected eau de vie batches of various vintages.

Having completed the walkthrough of the distillery, the cellar and the blending room, I couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to go through all that to produce liquor; but as I made my way to the sampling area I was sure glad I get to drink it!