Kristoff Pistoff

Smoked: Kristoff Pistoff

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

I’ve been curious about this cigar since I first heard of it many years ago. The Pistoff Kristoff came up in conversation during a cigar event last month. The cigar is made with Nicaraguan filler, an Indonesian binder and a rustic toothy Mexican San Andres wrapper with a pigtail. The band is black with barely readable neon red lettering – akin to the Caldwell original One Night Stand cigar band.

Pigtails usually make me apprehensive and I grab the V-cutter, but this one was sufficient enough to tug and the cigar opened unscathed.

The initial flavors are an assault on the palate – charred oak, earthiness that’s more like dirt, even the pepper has a dirty taste to it , some spice, sweetness, and day old coffee. The flavors suddenly changed to a more enjoyable profile – still not very good but smokeable.

They’re still minimal but now identifiable as oak, earth (now musty), pepper, spice; cinnamon and dark roast coffee. Still nothing special going on here. The retrohale is peppery, toasty and notes of charred wood. This baby is full-bodied and full strength from ignition to burn out.

The construction was good – open draw, decent smoke output, and white ash that held stacked like a roll of nickels. The open draw and lack of any wrapper issues is a rare feat for me detaching a pigtail on a cigar.

If I hadn’t been distracted on a phone call during the first few minutes, I may have given up on it. Midway through the first third it transitioned albeit from nasty to a shade better than meh. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced that kind of sudden change. I guess you can call that a transition. There is no complexity to this cigar.

How do you rate and review this? Give it a 1 for the first third and a 2 overall. The only saving grace was the solid construction. I’m not Pistoff for trying this cigar but I wish I had my money back.