Kristoff Criollo Robusto Cigar Review by Tony Yan

Name: Kristoff Criollo
Vitola: Robusto (5.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Nicaragua Habano Criollo
Binder: Olor Dominican Republic
Filler: Olor Dominican Republic and Nicaragua
Body: Medium
Smoke Time: 1H 15M
Price: $8.20

The next cigar in my Exclusive Cigars series is the Kristoff Criollo. This cigar was introduced in 2006.

Appearance
We start off with a nice oily wrapper that is dark chocolate in color. In fact, the wrapper was so dark that it almost looked like a maduro. The wrapper was fairly veiny with one or two veins showing prominently. The stick was firmly packed and it felt weighty in hand. A closed foot and a pig-tail cap finished off this great looking cigar. Breathing deep, the wrapper gave off an aroma of earthy barnyard.

Pre-light
The cap came off easily with a snip of my Xikar. The draw was tight with flavors of fruit. After the draw a layer of spice was left on my lips.

The Smoke
Despite the oily wrapper, the cigar lit easily and opened with flavors of coffee and somethingI couldn’t quite put a finger on. All I can say is that it set all my tastebuds buzzing. Exclusive described flavors of “toasted almond” so perhaps that was what that flavor was, but it wasn’t what I expected toasted almonds to taste like. Leather followed the notes of coffee. At this point I was thinking “Weird, this kind of tastes like a maduro.” A thin layer of spice also coated my palate. All in all it was an interesting start.

The tight draw resulted in a fairly low smoke output. I was disappointed by this because I like cigars that put out copious amounts of smoke. Moving on, the cigar developed a bit of sweetness after the draw and on the finish, which was a welcomed addition. Towards the end of the first third, the coffee disappears but the leathery flavors remain. The mysterious flavor (toasted almond?) that I got in the beginning also faded away.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the smoke was pretty ho-hum after the first third or so. The sweet leathery flavors were still there, but I did not notice any sort of significant changes. It didn’t help that the draw remained tight until the end.

Construction was ok. Structurally, the ash was fairly weak, with the first one falling after about an inch. Burn was fairly even, but I had to relight the cigar several times during the course of the smoke. This was probably due to the oiliness of the wrapper.

Final Thoughts
It was a decent smoke, but the flavor profile wasn’t my cup of tea. I was a bit befuddled by this cigar and I don’t mean this in a negative way. Like I had mentioned earlier, the flavors that I got really reminded me of a maduro and when in fact it was a Criollo. I have another one sitting in my humidor so I will be revisiting it later this year.

Rating: (3.5/5)