Punch Cigars

One of the few premiums whose name actually tells you what to expect when you smoke it. Renowned as the world's second-oldest cigar brand still in production, Punch is the third-oldest Cuban cigar trademark in Havana, preceded only by Por Larrañaga and Ramón Allones, founded in 1834 and 1837 respectively. But Punch's history isn't just measured by longevity.

Punch Cigars History

A potent new blend was born in 1840 using tobaccos grown in Cuba's fertile Vuelta Abajo region. Don Manuel López intended this Havana Punch for the British market, where a cartoon called "Punch" was wildly popular. Its mascot, "Mr. Punch," was the male half of the famed Punch & Judy puppet shows. The brand continued independently until 1930, when the trademark was acquired by Fernandez, Palicio y Cia, where 400 rollers made Belinda, Hoyo de Monterrey, and La Escepción. When the Castro regime came to power with the 1959 Revolution, Fernando Palicio fled the island for America.

In 1964, Palicio sold his brands to the Villazon family, who produced them in Tampa using tobacco imported from Honduras. Villazon was still making cigars with Cuban leaf, as were most Tampa factories, until President John F. Kennedy signed off on the sanctions. Fortunately for the Villazons, their buyers had snatched up thousands of bales of Cuban tobacco before the embargo took effect--enough to include Cuban tobacco in their cigars well past 1965. Meanwhile, the government of Honduras began actively promoting expansion of the country's tobacco-growing industry, paving the way for formation of HATSA, or Honduras-American Tobacco S.A., in Danlí.

Back in the U.S., the boom in premium cigars was fading, and with steep competition from cheap machine-made cigars, sales of traditional premiums slumped. By 1995, General Cigar acquired the Punch trademark. Today, Punch cigars are made in Honduras at the HATSA factory in Danlí, and General has an extensive portfolio of Punch blends.

Among the most popular, Punch Gran Puro offers Honduran puro construction with a high-priming Habano wrapper, while Punch Bareknuckle ramps up intensity with a five-country blend and Mexican San Andres maduro wrapper. Punch Signature and Punch Rothschild remain classic choices, delivering balanced medium to full body with notes of cedar, leather, and spice.

The brand has consistently maintained its reputation for bold, straightforward flavor with excellent construction and value pricing. Whether exploring the classic Punch Rothschild or the more aggressive Bareknuckle, smokers encounter cigars that live up to the name--direct, powerful, and satisfying.