Way back in the days of old, long before the FDA was sinking their teeth into the cigar industry’s jugular, there was a small boutique cigar brand known as Exclusive Cigars started by an 18-year veteran of the financial industry. That man was Glen Case, who you all know as the owner of Kristoff Cigars. One of the blends under the Exclusive Cigars banner was the Vengeance Maduro Ligero that was a well received blend of Honduran and Dominican fillers cloaked in a Brazilian Maduro wrapper.
Glen Case changed the name of the company to Kristoff Cigars in 2008 but still sold the Vengeance without the Kristoff name on it until 2011 when he changed the named to the Kristoff GC Signature Series which I reviewed back in 2017. At the 2018 IPCPR, Kristoff Cigars brought back the Vengeance brand with a new blend and Kristoff branding.
The Kristoff Cigars Vengeance blend is now described as:
- Wrapper – Connecticut Broadleaf
- Binder – Indonesian
- Filler – Dominican and Nicaraguan
The Kristoff Vengeance is available in 4 vitolas, each packaged in 20-count boxes with the signature loose tobacco surrounding the cigars:
- Robusto (5 x 50) MSRP $9.00
- Toro (6 1/4 x 54) MSRP $9.30
- Perfecto (6 1/2 x 60) MSRP $9.75
- 660 Gordo (6 x 60) MSRP $9.60
For this review I sampled the Kristoff Vengeance toro which I received as part of the Smoke Inn Great Smoke 2019 package of cigars.
Pre-Light Examination
The Kristoff Vengeance is a dark brown and oily cigar with a classic Kristoff pigtail cap and partially closed foot. There are noticeable veins and the wrapper has a decent marbling to it. The cigar is tightly packed with a decent weight.
The cigar is branded with a single black and silver band that declares it as the Kristoff Vengeance and the phrase “HECHO A MANO DOMINCANA” noting it is a product of the Dominican Republic. It is manufactured at
Charles Fairmorn factory as is the case for all Kristoff cigars.
Running the cigar under the nose I was immediately enticed with an interesting mint aroma – yep, I had to do that again, mint. The foot added to the intrigue with notes of fresh baking spice, and lightly pungent earth.
I used my double blade cutter to slice the pig tail cap and proceeded to give it some cold draw puffs. The draw restriction is spot on while offering palate pleasing notes of light pepper, fruit, and muted earthiness.
Cigar Review Notes
- Unique and enticing initial notes – pepper on the nose along with a touch of nut and fresh herbal notes
- Medium grey ash evolves on a medium char line
- Sweet cream enters joined with coffee notes
- Full volume of smoke
- A mild burn wave develops
- Ash drops after good inch plus revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Coffee grows into more of a dark espresso
- Very smooth smoke entering the second third
- Dry fruit notes enter
- Earthy aroma
- Bitterness enters midway
- Burn behaving well and oils develop nicely
- Burn line thickens
- Light spice enters end of second third with a continued undertone of bitter, though a bit more diminished
- Fruit picks up in final third with a touch of mouth watering mint
- Flavors become rather complex in the final – cedar, caramel, spice, fruit
- Burns a bit hot to the touch in the final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 minutes
Overall, the Kristoff Vengeance was a fine smoking experience with a extremely balanced and complex array of flavor notes. The transitions kept the palate intrigued down through the final third. There was some bitterness in the second third which eventually dissipated. The wrapper oils developed well through the experience. The burn did have a slight wave early on, that eventually corrected without a touch up, and the burn cone was flat once the ash fell. This is worth picking up a fiver for sure. I rate this a 92.
Point deductions: (-1) Medium Grey Ash; (-1) Early Wave in Burn; (-1) Flat Burn Cone; (-1) Bitterness midway; (-1) Burned hot to the touch in the final
Bonus Points: (+1) Excellent Oil Development
