Lane Limited Punch

Lane Limited - Punch.

I was a little worried at first. You see, there was no rush of air when I prized the seal open, or supposed seal. Luckily for me though, the lack of a seal hadn't made it too dry; good to smoke imminently, but no good for the cellar. Just one sniff from the tin gave me a good inclination as to what sort of blend I was dealing with: a heady Latakia one. On the negative side of things the blend included a few twiggy pieces of Latakia, not loads of them, but a couple of stick-like bits. It appears to be about 75% black Lat'!

Here's my experience with smoking it: I really enjoy it. The flavour is mostly Latakia, with only a very tiny amount of Burley and Virginia. And I mean VERY TINY. This causes the flavour to be a full one, with all of the traits a Lat-Hound would love, I assume! It's not as sharp or caustic as I'd expect a blend that's this heavy with Lat' to be; woody and smoky, but not bitter or acrid. The temperature of the smoke's cool, and it's thick in build. These features, along with the lack of bite, make for a comfortable smoke.

The room-note's heavy, but I admit I like it, and the nicotine's strong.

I'm deducting no points for the broken seal, it's too good a smoke, so I'll call that a one off!

Highly recommended.

With a seemingly deliberate exaggeration of Latakia, Punch manages to deliver a spicy, thick, and intense smoke with little care for nuance. The Virginia seems to serve as kindling only. The Burley quietly serves up a high dose of nicotine. The retrohale is overwhelmingly ticklish.

It is neither wet not dry. It is well cut, with clearly distinguishable yellow ribbons amidst a sea of black.

This is a very intense and stinky smoke, which will likely justify your ownership of a Group 1 pipe.

Lane Limited Punch turned me off when I popped the tin and was instantly overwhelmed by the scent of Liquid Smoke. I never tire of complaining about this additive, and here it was, taking over my 4-car garage when I spread my Punch out on paper to dissipate the smell! I opened all the doors, as well, and I finally jarred it after blanket tossing it and giving it a couple more hours of air time. After this it was still a Lat bomb, but at least I could bring myself to smoke it! The tobacco is cut and smashed to small pieces ranging from medium red-brown, to dark brown, to black. It would still, no doubt, smell like Latakia if the Liquid Smoke were not present, as there is a LOT of Latakia in Punch! After my ablutions, it loads, lights and smokes down fairly quickly, with no fuss. I prefer it from a #4 English briar, as this allows some musty, nutty earth from the Burley and burnt toast from the VA to be noticeable along with the all-enveloping spent campfire and creosote from the Latakia. Finally smoking it, I have to admit I was surprised that Punch is a smooth and mellow smoke, at least it is once it’s been aired out, also sweet, sour, and slightly bitter. Yes, it’s pretty much a one trick pony, but the trick’s not so bad, after all. Strength is about medium, with scant nicotine. Tastes are over medium by the end of a bowl. Room note is better than I would have guessed. Aftertaste is initially a metallic best of the smoke, then the metal fades and it is the best of the smoke.

I should say, I’m not someone who goes around looking for Lat bombs, though there are a few that I quite enjoy. I have some of these on hand, and they do factor in to my ultimate judgement of Punch, as does the stupid Liquid Smoke. After making my best efforts to get the most from Punch, I can give it 3 stars. I would not recommend it straight from the tin.

Tin note of smoky, musty and tart sour fruit. Tobacco is a ribbon cut of black, dark brown and tan. Moisture content is great. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium and mostly consistent, with notes of floral, smoky, musty peaty vegetation, spices, sugar, incense, sweet toast, molasses, slightly spicy, herbal hay, earth, leather, wood, citrus zest, buttery, a fermented grassy background note, and a peppery retro. Latakia is leading with Burley and Virginia supporting. Room note is tolerable to strong, and aftertaste is great.

This is my first review. Punch is a very easy tobacco for me to assign a rating to because it is by far the worst tobacco I have ever smoked. It smells like liquid smoke and it pretty much tastes like it too. I have enjoyed other Lat bombs, but this was absolute garbage. As in I smoked it a few times to see if I was missing something, then left it in the jar on the shelf for a few years, smoked it once more, and literally threw the rest in the garbage. Seriously, I don’t even think I can smoke a Punch cigar without thinking about this horrible stuff, so it has ruined a completely unrelated cigar brand for me. Incomprehensibly bad.

The smell from the can is tar, cured leather, stained oak.

Beautiful dark brown, like a Viennese roasted coffee, the color of the blend with occasional, slightly lighter brown Virginia flakes. The tobacco is strong, firm, and juicy. The smoke is dense, the strength amazed me, accustomed to "medium" varieties. Survived, good thing I tried from a small pipe.

LatBomb is Latakia's most powerful punch, but here it's very smooth. Not like Ten Russians, which at some point were just stabbing you in the head. With Punch the approach is gradual, and when I realized that I should have stopped, it was already too late. 🙂 At the same time, there is a nut and a little bit of earth, but just a little bit. Perhaps the only tobacco in the Lane "cigar" series that really looks like a cigar.

Smokes smoothly, little ash, no liquid at all.

I'm not sure if I'll buy it again - it's strong and exotic to me. But went well. Very good with coffee and whiskey.

Hits the spot. Love Latakia and this one is smooth. I may spice it up a bit with a pinch of Perique but will definitely buy more of this. No chance of tongue bit which is foremost in my mind. Buy some, get some in ya cellar. If you like Latakia this one if for you. Room note doesn't apply since I smoke outside, lol.

Gonna make this short and sweet. Punch is a top notch blend. Reminiscent of EMP but better in being smoother and more flavorful in my opinion. Try it.

Hi all,

This is my first review. I'm not a tobacco specialist. I don't know very well all vocabulary and nuances of everything, but I know why I like a tobacco I'll try to share with you.

I agree with StevieB. We are talking about a LAT-BOMB from top to bottom. I love lat bombs, but it's not the best I've tasted. In the first third of the bowl the latakia is accompanied by the strong burley, so the experience is very smoke intense. You'll feel a lot of heavy smoke, and my tongue was only trying to resist the heavy guest. Once at the second third the dark virginias will give you a little breather. At the last third your muscles will begin to relax and you feel you are out of danger. No sweetness, no spicy, no subtle tastes.

As a lat bomb it's very simple and too overwhelming, but if you're looking for a very strong, overwhelming bold latakia/burley experience, you'll enjoy.

IMHO I would say the latakia here is not a top quality leaf and the blending process has been very simple. I prefer LATBOMBS accompanied by light virginias or orientals, in any case a more elegant, refined and plenty of nuances experiences.

It's not recommendable as introduction to latbombs unless you're coming from very bold and strong burley or dark fired experiences.