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Punch
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History
The Punch brand was first registered in 1840 by German named
Stockmann and named for the European puppet show character,
Mr. Punch (not the magazine, which was created a year later).
The brand quickly became a success, especially in Great
Britain. The first change of ownership came in 1874, when the
brand was bought by a Luis Corujo, and again in 1884, when the
brand was purchased by Manuel Lopez Fernandez and its bands
and boxes still bear his name to this day. Retiring in 1924
and passing away shortly after, Lopez gave ownership of the
brand to Esperanza Valle Comas, who only held it for a few
years before the Stock Market Crash of 1929.
Like most other businesses around the world, the Cuban cigar
industry faced financial hardships. In 1930, the firm of
Fernandez, Palicio y Cia bought up the brand, where it became
one of the company's headlining cigar marques, along with
Belinda, La Escepcion, and Hoyo de Monterrey, and maintained
its popularity with British cigar smokers.
After the embargo was set against Cuba by the United States,
Fernando Palicio fled Cuba for Florida, where he subsequently
sold his cigar lines to the Villazon family, which has
continued to make Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey, and Belinda cigars
from Honduran tobacco for the American market.
Cuba subsequently nationalized the tobacco industry and Punch
continued production and is still a popular, multi-locally-marketted
Cuban cigar line. Among connoisseurs, the eponymous Punch,
Double Corona, Churchill, and Super Selection No. 2 are
especially prized and sought after.
Punch also produces two machine-made cigarillos: the
Cigarritos and Cigarritos Reserva.
Punch has not been chosen before for any Edicion Limitada
productions as of yet, but in 2006 it did see a special
Edicion Regional release: a Robusto released only in
Switzerland.
Vitolas in the Cuban Punch Line
A box of Punch Punch The following list of vitolas (sizes)
within the Punch line lists their measurements in English and
metric, their vitolas de galera (factory name), and their
conventional name in American cigar slang.
Hand-Made Vitolas
Double Corona - 7 5/8" x 49 (194 x 19.45 mm) Prominente, a
double corona
Churchill - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill
Punch - 5 5/8" x 46 (143 x 18.26 mm) Corona Gorda, a toro
Royal Selection No. 11 - 5 5/8" x 46 (143 x 18.26 mm) Corona
Gorda, a toro
Royal Selection No. 12 - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Mareva,
a petit corona
Super Selection No. 1 - 6 1/8" x 42 (155 x 16.67 mm) Corona
Grande, a long corona
Corona - 5 5/8" x 42 (142 x 16.67 mm) Corona, a corona
Petit Corona del Punch - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Mareva,
a petit corona
Petit Punch - 4" x 40 (102 x 15.87 mm) Perla, a tres petit
corona
Margarita - 4 3/4" x 26 (121 x 10.32 mm) Carolina, a cigarillo
Machine-Made and Hand-Finished Vitolas
Royal Coronation - 5 3/4" x 44 (145 x 17.46 mm) Conserva, a
corona
Coronation - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Petit Corona, a
petit corona
Petit Coronation - 4 5/8" x 40 (117 x 15.87 mm) Coronita, a
tres petit corona
Cigarillo - 4 1/8" x 29 (106 x 11.51 mm) Chico, a cigarillo
Edicion Regional Release
Robusto - 4 7/8" x 50 (124 x 19.84 mm) Robusto, a robusto or
rothschild
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