A Cuban Punch Panetela Just for Italy – Cigar Aficionado

Punch ManTua measures 6 inches by 38 ring gauge and ships in 50-count boxes.

If you plan on seeing the Colosseum in Rome this Spring, or perhaps the canals of Venice, be sure to find a tobacconist that stocks the Punch ManTua, the newest Regional Edition cigar made exclusively for Italy. It’s a thin, 6 inch by 38 ring gauge, pigtailed panetela known as a Laguito No. 2 in Cuban cigar factories, and shares its dimensions with regular-production cigars such as the Cohiba Corona Especial and the Montecristo Especial No. 2.

According to Diadema S.p.a., Italy’s distributor of Cuban cigars, the Punch ManTua is a nod to tradition, as the slender size, the vintage band and the 50-count packaging format are all references to aspects of Cuban cigar culture that are disappearing.

The Punch ManTua was named after a city in Pinar del Río, the western province of Cuba known for growing tobacco. Mantua was founded by a shipwrecked group of Italian sailors, hence the historical connection to Italy. Note that the letter “t” is not capitalized in the city name the way it is for the cigar.

Only 2,500 boxes of the Punch ManTua are being released, and they are not expected to stay on shelves for long. Regional Editions such as this tend to be bought up quickly by international collectors or other vendors looking to resell Regional smokes at a much higher price.

If you find them, the cigars will have a suggested retail price of 12 euros (about $13.25) each or 600 euros ($663.75) per box.