Punch Cigars: 1840, Honduras, and the Gran Puro
Punch was registered in Havana in 1840, which makes it one of the oldest names still on a cigar band anywhere. The American brand has been made in Honduras since the 1960s, when the family that owned it fled Cuba and sold the marque to a Tampa company that rebuilt it from Honduran leaf. It is still among the best value in premium cigars.
Shop Punch cigars Browse every cigar we carryPunch takes its name from Mr. Punch, the puppet from the English Punch and Judy shows, and from the British satirical magazine that shared the name. That was deliberate: the brand was built for the English market, which in the nineteenth century was the most valuable cigar market in the world.
The founding is usually given as 1840, when the name was first registered by a German named Stockmann. Manuel López Fernández bought it in 1884, and the López family ran it into the twentieth century. Habanos S.A., which owns the Cuban brand today, dates it more loosely to the middle of the nineteenth century.
Havana to Honduras
The story of the American Punch is the story of one man leaving Cuba. Fernando Palicio owned Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey and Belinda when the industry was nationalised after 1959. He left the country and sold those brands to Frank Llaneza and Dan Blumenthal of Villazon and Company, who rebuilt them outside Cuba using Honduran tobacco.
That decision, made out of necessity, defined the brand. Honduras in the 1960s was not an obvious choice, but Cuban-seed tobacco planted in the Jamastran valley and around Danlí turned out to produce something with real character. The US Punch has called Honduras home since 1965 and still does. The cigars are made at the HATSA factory in Danlí, which Villazon built and which now operates under Scandinavian Tobacco Group.
Who owns Punch now
Punch is a Scandinavian Tobacco Group brand. On 2 February 2026 STG moved Punch, along with Cohiba and Havana Honeys, from General Cigar Company to its sister house Forged Cigar Company. In the same reshuffle Partagas, Room101 and Don Tomas moved the other way, into General Cigar.
Punch now sits at Forged alongside Cohiba, Bolivar, Diesel, La Gloria Cubana, Alec Bradley and El Rey del Mundo. Bolivar, Diesel and La Gloria Cubana have been Forged brands since the house was created in February 2021; Alec Bradley since 2023.
Punch Gran Puro: an actual Honduran puro
A puro is a cigar in which the wrapper, binder and filler all come from one country. Most cigars are not puros. Blenders reach across borders because it is easier to balance a blend that way, and because a single country's tobacco rarely gives you everything you want. Committing to a puro means the country has to carry the whole cigar.
Gran Puro does exactly that. Honduran Havana-seed wrapper, Honduran binder, Honduran filler. It launched in 2003 and it is made at STG Danlí. The result is unmistakably Honduran: earthy, leathery, with a dry spice that no Nicaraguan or Dominican blend duplicates.
| Wrapper | Honduran Havana seed |
| Binder | Honduran |
| Filler | Honduran |
| Made in | Danlí, Honduras |
| Launched | 2003 |
There is also a Gran Puro Nicaragua, which despite the family name is not a puro: it pairs a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler.
We carry the Punch Gran Puro Toro.
Punch Rare Corojo: the annual that became permanent
Rare Corojo debuted in 2001 as a limited seasonal release, one run a year, and that scarcity made it the Punch that collectors watched for. As of 2025 it went to regular production, made at STG Danlí, in eight vitolas.
| Wrapper | Ecuadorian Sumatra, grown in the mountains and harvested in limited quantity |
| Binder | Connecticut broadleaf |
| Filler | Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican piloto cubano |
| Debuted | 2001, as a limited annual release |
Sizes run from the Rapido at 5 x 40 up through the En Crystale at 5.5 x 54, with a box-pressed El Gordo at 6 x 60 appearing as a limited item. A 25th Anniversary edition released in March 2026 on a Honduran corojo wrapper and binder, made at Fábrica de Puros Aladino in Las Lomas Jamastran, which is a different factory from the regular line.
We stock the Rare Corojo Gusto in the tube, 5 x 52.
The full Punch range
Punch runs deeper than most people realise, and almost all of it is priced honestly.
| Line | What it is |
|---|---|
| Gran Puro | Honduran puro. Earthy and full. |
| Gran Puro Nicaragua | Connecticut broadleaf over Nicaraguan. Sweeter and darker. |
| Rare Corojo | Ecuadorian Sumatra over Connecticut broadleaf. The connoisseur's Punch. |
| Clásico | The everyday line, the one most people meet first. |
| Clásico Maduro | The dark version of the same. |
| Mr. Punch | Named for the puppet on the band. |
| Diablo | The fullest in the family. |
| Signature | A modern blend under the old name. |
| Grand Cru | The premium tier. |
| Deluxe | A long-running classic-format line. |
| Golden Era | Heritage-styled release. |
| Knuckle Buster | Value line, in Habano, Maduro and Shade. |
Why Honduran tobacco tastes the way it does
Nicaragua gets the attention, and Nicaraguan tobacco is the loudest leaf in the business: volcanic soil in Estelí, high nicotine, aggressive pepper. Honduran leaf is quieter and more particular.
The main growing regions are the Jamastran valley in the east near the Nicaraguan border, the area around Danlí, and the Olancho valley to the north. Jamastran is the powerful one, closest in character to Estelí. Danlí is more balanced. Olancho San Agustin, which shows up as a wrapper across a number of brands, is darker and slightly rustic.
What Honduran leaf gives you across the board is earth and leather rather than pepper and sweetness. It is a drier, more savoury profile. If you find Nicaraguan blends one-note, Honduras is where to look.
Gran Puro is one of the honest bargains in premium cigars. Start there.
Shop Punch Browse every cigar we carryWrapper, binder, filler
The wrapper (capa)
Across the Punch range: Honduran Havana seed, Honduran corojo, Ecuadorian Sumatra, Connecticut broadleaf and Connecticut shade.
Wrapper shades, palest to darkest: Double Claro / Candela Claro Colorado Claro Colorado Colorado Maduro Maduro Oscuro
Primings: where the leaf grew
| Leaf | Position on the plant | Role in the blend |
|---|---|---|
| Ligero | Top primings | Most sun, most oil, most nicotine. Strength and depth. Burns slowest, so it sits in the core. |
| Viso | Upper middle | More flavor than seco, less weight than ligero. |
| Seco | Middle | Aroma and mid-palate. The balance leaf. |
| Volado | Lower primings | Thin and mild. Combustion. |
| Medio Tiempo | The crown | Two rare leaves above the ligero. Very concentrated. |
Written phonetically the top leaf comes out "lahero" or "lejero"; the word is ligero, lee-HEH-roh. The other Spanish terms worth knowing: capa for wrapper, capote for binder, tripa for filler, torcedor for the roller, vitola for the size, and pilón for the fermentation stack.
Tobacco varietals you will meet
Corojo Criollo Habano Havana seed Piloto Cubano Olor Sumatra Connecticut shade Connecticut broadleaf San Andrés Mata Fina Arapiraca Cameroon Olancho San Agustin
Sizes and vitolas
Cigar size is written length in inches by ring gauge, ring gauge being the diameter in 64ths of an inch. A 5 x 52 is five inches long and 52/64 of an inch across.
| Vitola | Typical size |
|---|---|
| Rapido / Petit Corona | 5 x 40 |
| Robusto / Gusto | 5 x 50 to 5 x 52 |
| Corona Gorda | 5.5 x 46 |
| En Crystale | 5.5 x 54, in a crystal tube |
| Toro | 6 x 50 to 6 x 54 |
| El Gordo | 6 x 60 |
| Churchill | 7 x 48 to 7.5 x 54 |
Elsewhere in our catalog: Lonsdale, Lancero, Panetela, Belicoso, Torpedo, Piramide, Perfecto, Rothschild, Double Corona, Presidente, Salomon, Culebra, Gigante, Super Gordo and Diadema. Browse the full range.
What we taste, from our own humidor
Gran Puro Toro
Cold draw is dry earth and cedar, no sweetness at all, which tells you immediately this is not a Nicaraguan cigar. It lights into leather and toasted grain, and there is a black-pepper spice that sits at the back of the throat rather than the front of the tongue. The middle third is the best part: the earthiness deepens and a cocoa note appears underneath. Burn is straight and the ash is dense and grey. About seventy-five minutes.
This is a full cigar that is not a strong cigar, which is a distinction worth understanding. It has weight and body without the nicotine punch of a heavy ligero blend.
Rare Corojo Gusto
Completely different. The Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper is sweeter and rounder than the Honduran Havana seed, and the Connecticut broadleaf binder underneath adds a dark-bread note. Cinnamon and cedar up front, a raisin sweetness in the middle, and a dry finish. The tube keeps it in good condition, which matters on a cigar that has historically been seasonal. Roughly an hour.
Pairing, cutting, storage
Gran Puro takes bourbon, rye, or a dark rum. It is dry enough that a sweet drink balances it rather than fighting it. Rare Corojo goes with coffee or a lighter scotch. Neither one needs anything expensive next to it, which is part of the point of the brand.
Straight guillotine cut on both. See our cutters and lighters. Store at 65 to 70 percent relative humidity, 68 to 70 degrees, in a humidor with stable humidification. Honduran cigars tend to be built on the firm side and are more forgiving of small humidity swings than a thin-wrapped Connecticut shade.
The bottom line
Punch is the brand experienced smokers keep in the humidor and rarely talk about. The Gran Puro is a genuine Honduran puro at a price that has no business being that low, and the Rare Corojo is a properly interesting cigar that spent two decades as an annual release before going full-time. If your palate has drifted toward Nicaraguan pepper and you want something drier and more savoury, this is the correction.
Keep exploring
Same house, Forged: Cohiba · Bolivar · Diesel · La Gloria Cubana · Alec Bradley
Sister company, General Cigar: Hoyo de Monterrey · Macanudo · CAO · Partagas
Other Honduran-made cigars: Camacho · Alec Bradley
Questions people actually ask
Is Punch a Cuban cigar?
The name was registered in Havana in 1840, but the Punch sold in the United States is an American brand made in Honduras. A separate Cuban Punch exists under Habanos S.A. and cannot legally be sold in the US.
Why is it called Punch?
After Mr. Punch, the puppet from the English Punch and Judy shows, and the British satirical magazine of the same name. The brand was aimed at the English market, which was the most valuable cigar market of the era.
When was Punch founded?
1840 is the usually cited date, when the name was first registered by a German named Stockmann. Manuel López Fernández bought the brand in 1884. Habanos S.A. dates it more loosely to the mid-nineteenth century.
How did Punch end up in Honduras?
Fernando Palicio owned Punch, Hoyo de Monterrey and Belinda when the Cuban industry was nationalised after 1959. He left Cuba and sold the brands to Frank Llaneza and Dan Blumenthal of Villazon and Company, who rebuilt them with Honduran tobacco. Punch has been made in Honduras since 1965.
Who owns Punch now?
Forged Cigar Company, part of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Punch moved from General Cigar Company to Forged on 2 February 2026, along with Cohiba and Havana Honeys.
What is a puro?
A cigar in which the wrapper, binder and filler all come from a single country. Punch Gran Puro is a true Honduran puro.
Is Gran Puro Nicaragua a puro?
No, despite the name. It uses a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler.
What is corojo tobacco?
A Cuban varietal developed in the 1930s at the Santa Ines del Corojo farm in Vuelta Abajo. It was Cuba's standard wrapper for decades before blue mould susceptibility forced a change. Honduran and Nicaraguan growers kept it alive, and on a modern band it generally signals a spicy, leathery wrapper.
Which Punch is the strongest?
Punch Diablo is the fullest in the family. Of the two we stock, Gran Puro has more body than Rare Corojo.
Is Punch a good value?
It is one of the better values in premium cigars. Gran Puro in particular delivers a full-bodied Honduran puro at a price most brands charge for a filler-heavy blend.
What makes Honduran tobacco different?
Earth and leather rather than pepper and sweetness. The main regions are Jamastran near the Nicaraguan border, Danlí, and the Olancho valley. Jamastran is the most powerful, Danlí more balanced.
What does ligero mean?
The leaf from the top of the tobacco plant. It gets the most sun, holds the most oil and nicotine, and burns slowest, which is why it sits at the center of the bunch. Seco is the middle leaf for aroma, volado the lower leaf for burn.
Where is Punch made?
At the HATSA factory in Danlí, Honduras, which Villazon built and which now operates under Scandinavian Tobacco Group. The 2026 Rare Corojo 25th Anniversary was an exception, made at Fábrica de Puros Aladino in Las Lomas Jamastran.
How should I store Punch cigars?
65 to 70 percent relative humidity at 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Honduran cigars are typically firmly bunched and hold up reasonably well to small humidity swings.
Do you ship Punch cigars?
Yes, to states where we are permitted to ship. An adult signature is required at delivery.
For adults 21+. Please enjoy responsibly.
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