Kristoff Maduro Torpedo

By Daniel T. | April 21, 2010

Kristoff is a boutique cigar made by Exclusive Cigars. Exclusive makes a variety of boutique blends, their other lines are Vengence, Brittania, Cuban Selection, Premium Selection and a line of “It’s a boy/girl” cigars. The company was launched in 2005 and has been establishing a strong name in the boutique cigar market. The Kristoff line the most recognizable of the group from this company. Exclusive has a fairly large distribution network and may sales reps across the USA. If you are curious about where you can get your hands on some of these sticks, head over to their site(http://exclusivecigarsonline.com) and click on the “Where to Buy” link. You can also read more about the company and their products there.

Kristoff is a new cigar to me, I had not heard much about them prior to getting these as a gift from @BelicosoBrother on Twitter (Check out their podcast when you have a chance). He was kind enough to send me two of this blend, a Robusto and a Torpedo. I wrote the review based on the Torpedo with some mental notes from my time with the robusto. For your knowledge, both vitolas burned and tasted very similar to each other. Keep in mind that this is not the Ligero blend, only the normal maduro blend. It falls into a typical old-fashioned maduro that is mild and sweet, so if you are looking for a spicy or full bodied maduro this cigar won’t be for you.

Cigar: Kristoff Maduro Torpedo
Drink: Mill Street Brewery Coffee Porter
Vitola: Torpedo (6.125 x 52)
Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro
Binder: Orlor Dominican and Cuban Seed
Filler: Orlor Dominican, Cuban Seed, Nicaraguan
Price: Gifted ($8 – $9 in stores)
Burn Time: 1.75 hours

Construction:
• Good firmness with a bit of spring
• Dark chocolate brown wrapper
• Very clean single cap
• Shaggy foot so I can’t see the filler on pre-light inspection
• Two medium sized veins following the length of the cigar, hopefully not big enough to cause problems
• Very clean cut
• Perfect draw
• Bands are nice and loose, can slide right off. No glue problems here and no damaging the wrapper

Burn:
• Toasting was pretty easy once cutting off the shaggy end
• You can toast with the shaggy foot but it takes a bit longer and usually causes some burn issues
• Burn has been nice and even throughout the first half
• Burn went a little crooked in the last two inches and started tunneling a bit
• Had to correct the non-burning wrapper twice near the end

Smoke & Ash:
• Not too much smoke in each draw
• Constant resting smoke and fairly abundant
Seems like more smoke coming out of the foot rather than the head?
• Ash is a little bumpy but no flaking
• Smoke amount increased a little bit near the halfway point, still would like it to be a more full
• Ash held on for almost two inches

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper has a sweet cocoa aroma and a hint of creaminess
• Pre-light draw has a lot of earthy tones and a slight spice on the lips
• Initial draws have a hint of roasted coffee and some sweetness
• The cigar is smooth but it has very weak flavors so far, really have to pay attention to figure them out, very mild right now also
• Coming up the the halfway point and flavors have not changed much, maybe just a hint of bitter cocoa
• Retrohale is mild and smooth with a bit of coca flavored creaminess
• A little past the halfway point the cocoa and coffee flavors became a bit more prominent, I’m also picking up a hint of fresh cookies, very interesting…
• Last two inches brought in a bit of bitterness to the flavor, I was just starting to really enjoy it
• Some bitterness tapered off when I fixed the wrapper burn issues but it’s still there

Final Thoughts:
This particular cigar left me with a lot to be desired. I could see that it had potential but it never really stepped up to the plate, especially considering the price tag applied to these. My main gripe throughout the cigar was the passive nature of the flavors. I knew the flavors were there and if I really concentrated I could taste them but they were so weak that they would be easy to miss. I didn’t mind the mild aspect to this cigar, I was expecting that going in but there should still have been some flavors to enjoy. I started getting the fresh baked cookie flavor for a few draws which was very interesting, but it was still very weak and disappeared just as fast as it was introduced. I could say this is possibly a good cigar to give to a new person getting into cigar smoking but at a $8+ price tag, it’s probably not a good idea. There are better mild maduros out there to be given away for much lower prices. I here good things about the Ligero line of Kristoff but this maduro is definitely not a winner for me.


Pairings:
I always think that there’s two ways to go about pairing a cigar that has very weak flavors. One way is to grab something light such as water or a light beer so that it doesn’t drown out the flavors and you can concentrate on trying to distinguish what the cigar tastes like. Generally if I know I’m smoking a boring cigar I sometimes take another route. My second method is to grab something nice and strong and full of flavor, say a good stout, Cuban coffee or a glass scotch. This way the drink gives the flavors and the cigar is just there to relax you but not offering much else…