Kristoff Pistoff Corona Gorda

[Don Fernando]

When I heard that Kristoff came out with a new cigar under de name Pistoff I couldn’t do anything but smile, what a great name. And I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them even thought this Kristoff blend isn’t available in The Netherlands yet. But luckily I had to meet up with Ward Hall from Kristoff Cigars at the Intertabac trade show anyway and I mooched one of these cigars in a 5 3/4×48 corona gordo vitola with the blend of Nicaraguan fillers, an Indonesian binder and a Mexican San Andres wrapper.

At my previous employer I was responsible for selling Kristoff on the Dutch market and I love some of the Kristoff blends, they are very well made and flavorful cigars for a very decent price here and because I like the brand the Pistoff was high on my “to try” list. Now I admit, I’m a cigar geek and everything
I haven’t tried yet is on my “to try” with the exemption of Connecticut shade wrapped cigars and the big ring gauge sticks, it’s only a matter on how high the cigar on that list is, this one was pretty high. The cigar looks good, the classic closed foot that all Kristoff Cigars, either made in the Charles Fairmorn factory or the PDR factory, have and a nice and pretty long pig tail. The wrapper is dark and quite intimidating because of the darkness of the wrapper and the placement of the thin veins. The ring is pitch black with red lettering on a good quality paper, if I want to nitpick I can say that the back of the ring was cut crooked, but hey, its a piece of black paper, no lettering at that spot, so it doesn’t matter.

The construction feels flawless and due to the closed foot its hard to determine the exact aroma of the cigar, I would say a mild barnyard aroma. Because of the long pig tail I had no choice but to use my flat cut. It creates a smooth cold draw with just a little raw tobacco flavor. I used my soft flame vintage Ronson to light the cigar. I taste a strong bitter yet sweet coffee, very bold. The sweetness is nice and counter effects the bitterness. After a centimeter I also taste a mild milk chocolate taste.

The bitter coffee has gone, the flavors are now earthy with a spicy sensation on the tip of my tongue, a little tangy too. I also taste a wood and nutmeg flavor, and the flavors are quite dry. Slowly the wood gets stronger, the spices tone down and the tangy turns into a more recognizable citrus. Halfway the nutmeg is back with some cinnamon and some sweetness.

The smoke is a lot, it’s thick too and white. The ash is light colored and well layered. The draw is a little on the loose side but not too bad. The burn is pretty straight. This cigar is full bodied yet never too strong and full flavored. The smoke time is the only thing that could be improved since it’s only little over an hour.
Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, once they come to the Dutch market.

Score: 91

as always pictures on my blog https://cigarguideorg.wordpress.com/...-corona-gorda/