Kristoff Nicaragua Robusto

During the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show, Kristoff released two new Nicaraguan lines. The first was the Tres Compadres line, which is named for Rolando Villamil, the factory manager at the factory where Kristoff produces its cigars and Chuck Finch, the best friend of Glen Case, Kristoff’s founder. Both men passed away fairly suddenly in the last year-and-a-half, and Case wanted to pay tribute to them.

However, it is the second new line that I am reviewing today, the Kristoff Nicaragua. As the name could imply, the blend is made up of all Nicaraguan tobacco, including a habano wrapper, filler tobaccos grown in the Condega, Esteli, and Jalapa growing regions of Nicaragua, and a corojo binder that the company says gives the profile of the cigar a more pronounced spiciness.

There were three different vitolas when the line debuted, all of which are regular production:

• Kristoff Nicaragua Robusto (5 x 50) — $9.50 (Box of 20, $190)
• Kristoff Nicaragua Toro (6 1/4 x 54) — $10.50 (Box of 20, $210)
• Kristoff Nicaragua 6 x 60 — $10.75 (Box of 20, $215)

Covered in a milk chocolate brown wrapper that features a noticeable amount of oil, the Kristoff Nicaragua Robusto has just a bit of tooth and feels very light when held in my hand. All three cigars are extremely spongy when squeezed and have multiple protruding veins running up and down their lengths, while a physical inspection reveals a huge soft spot on the back of the cigar between the main band and foot band on one cigar. Aromas from the wrappers include sweet hay, dried tea leaves, earth, baker’s spices and generic nuttiness, along with a slight citrus note. Scents from the feet of the three cigars start with strong dark chocolate, followed by black pepper, creamy cedar, leather, and more earth. Finally, after straight cuts, the cold draws bring flavors of peanut shells, mushrooms, earth, leather, dry hay, and light cinnamon, along with some fairly generic sweetness.

Immediately after I light the feet, a combination of light spice and gritty earth starts the Kristoff Nicaragua Robustos off, but within about eight puffs, flavors of cedar and bitter espresso take over the profile. Secondary notes of peanuts, leather, cocoa nibs, nutmeg, and earth flit in and out at various points, and while the retrohale features plenty of black pepper, there is only a small amount of floral sweetness to be had so far. The flavor ends the first third at medium-plus, while the strength is at a point just under the medium mark, and the body brings up the rear at mild-plus. In terms of construction, I have no issues whatsoever, with the burns, draws and smoke production all working together nicely.

There are a number of changes for the Kristoff during the second third, including a much more interesting combination of cloves and cinnamon that have taken over the main spots in the profile. Additional flavors include more peanuts, leather, dark chocolate, coffee beans, wet hay, and a slight vegetal note, and while there is a bit less black pepper on the retrohale, the sweetness has changed from a floral note to one that reminds me of watered down apple juice. Flavor bumps up to medium-full while the strength increases slightly to a solid medium, and the body increases to a point just under the medium mark. Construction-wise, all three cigars continue to feature excellent draws and copious amounts of smoke, but the burn on one of the cigars does become problematic enough that I am forced to correct it to avoid larger issues.

The final third of the Kristoff Nicaragua sees yet another shift in the main flavors, this time to a combination of peanuts and earth. With that said, the cloves and cinnamon that defined the second third are still noticeable enough to be part of the secondary flavors, along with powdery cocoa nibs, toasted bread, and creamy cedar. The retrohale on all three cigars continues to feature about the same amount of both black pepper and watered-down apple juice, but I do note an increase in the amount of spice on my tongue for one cigar. The flavor ends the cigar at medium-full, and the strength remains at a solid medium, but the body increases slightly to land at a solid medium by the time I put the nubs down with less than an inch remaining. Finally, the overall construction is a carbon copy of what I experienced in the first third, with no issues when it comes to the smoke production, burn lines, or draws for any of the three cigars.

Final Notes

• The watered-down apple juice sweetness that I tasted on the retrohale reminded me of Honest Apple Juice, which I drank quite a bit of when my son was younger.
• Kristoff released a third new cigar during the 2023 PCA Convention: the PCA 2023 Signature Series, an exclusive creation sold exclusively to retailers who attended the trade show that I also reviewed and did not like as much as this one.
• The Kristoff brand is named after Case’s son, Christopher, and he has a line named Britannia Reserva after his daughter, Brittany.
• Two of the three cigars I smoked had extremely flaky ash, to the point where I had amassed piles all over the table I was smoking at by the time I was done.
• One cigar developed a crack in the wrapper during the second third—you can see it in the second third smoking photograph above—but it fixed itself without any help from me after I removed the main band.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time averaged one hour and 49 minutes for all three samples.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Kristoff Nicaragua Robusto cigars, site sponsor Famous Smoke Shop has them for sale on its website.

Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.