Punch cigars

Punch was registered in Cuba in 1840 — named for the irreverent Mr. Punch puppet character popular in Europe — and quickly built a devoted following in Great Britain, becoming one of the island's most exported marcas through the Victorian era. By the 1970s it ranked fifth among all Cuban brands by global volume, behind only Montecristo, Partagás, H. Upmann, and Romeo y Julieta.

The brand's modern bifurcation traces to the Cuban revolution. When the industry was nationalised in 1960, the Palicio family, who had owned the brand since 1930, sold their rights to Frank Llaneza and Dan Blumenthal of Villazon in 1965. Honduran production began at the HATSA factory in Danlí in 1968, creating what became the General Cigar version of Punch — a separate, full-bodied Honduran line with its own identity.

The Cuban Punch, produced today at La Corona factory in Havana under Habanos S.A., maintains a compact portfolio built around its two anchors: the Punch Double Corona, a Prominente-format powerhouse at 49 ring gauge that many regard as the line's definitive expression, and the Punch Punch, a classic Coronas Gordas that serves as the everyday benchmark. The Honduran counterpart offers its own range of medium-to-full blends with Connecticut, Corojo, and Maduro wrapper options.

Both versions share an emphasis on satisfying, tobacco-forward character over complexity, which is precisely why the name has endured nearly two centuries.