Kristoff TAA Exclusive 2023

In late March, there was a week when halfwheel’s homepage was dominated by posts regarding the acronym TAA.

It stands for Tobacconists’ Association of America, a trade group that contains approximately 80 retailers and around 40 cigar manufacturers. Each year, the group meets to discuss what’s going on in the industry and also to sell some cigars. This is done via three ways. One is a simple trade show where cigar companies offer retailers discounts. Another is the Dream Machine, a more unique group-buying event where manufacturers offer the collective retail group discounts based on the total amount of orders it receives during that event. The one that we write about is the TAA Exclusive Series Program, a collection of cigars that are only offered to TAA retailers, at least at the time.

The Exclusive Series Program is optional, retailers don’t have to buy the cigars and manufacturers don’t have to participate either. Around 15-20 companies do participate each year, with most companies producing one new cigar as a limited edition item for the year, though some companies like Ashton, Drew Estate and Padrón offer the same cigar each year. As part of the Exclusive Series Program, the manufacturers are expected to donate at least 50 cents per cigar sold back to the organization.

For 2023, Kristoff created a 6 1/4 x 60 double perfecto that uses an Ecuadorian shade-grown wrapper over a binder from Nicaragua and four Dominican fillers. The company refers to the vitola as a cut perfecto, a reference to how the foot and cap are more or less flat.

Like many Kristoff cigars, it is being made at Tabacalera von Eicken, the factory formerly known as Charles Fairmorn. While TAA 2023 took place in late March, Kristoff didn’t begin shipping the cigars until mid-June.

• Cigar Reviewed: Kristoff TAA Exclusive 2023
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera von Eicken S.R.L.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Shade)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Length: 6 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 60
• Vitola: Double Perfecto
• MSRP: $13 (Box of 20, $260)
• Release Date: June 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,000 Boxes of 20 Cigars (20,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

This is one of the more interesting shapes that you’ll see, a symmetrical double perfecto that reminds me of a supersized version of La Aurora’s Preferidos vitolas. And it’s truly supersized, something that I don’t truly appreciate until the Kristoff TAA Exclusive 2023 is in my hands. The pale mustard wrapper has lots of visible veins and black spots, though the tan color is pretty consistent. On one cigar, there are two very loose seams, but otherwise, the cigars appear to be well-rolled. The aroma from the wrapper is medium-full with strawberry lemonade leading cocoa, earthiness and some mulch. On one cigar, there’s none of the sweeter strawberry lemonade flavors, and instead, it is led by some barnyard flavors. Smelling the feet is more medium-plus with scents of chocolate pudding, pie crust, creaminess and hickory emerging, though the three cigars don’t have many similarities between them. If you don’t read any other part of this review, read this: cut off less than you think you should. The first cigar has an open draw with Kellogg’s cereal leading some fruitiness and a mild sweet tea flavor. Another cigar has more of an oatmeal flavor than cereal, and the third cigar is completely different, with cocoa on top of some cinnamon candy. What the three cigars’ cold draws have in common are that they are open and medium-full.

Sometimes the resistance of a cigar’s draw will change between the cold draw and the first puff. That doesn’t happen on any of the three Kristoff TAA Exclusive 2023s I smoke. Opening flavors have creaminess and earthiness leading leather, toastiness, oatmeal and acorns; medium or medium-plus in terms of intensity. That intensity quickly changes, and a few minutes in, the flavor is knocking on the door of full. Creaminess leads dry woodiness, cereal, a mild pancake batter and some charred flavors. Black pepper is a pretty consistent secondary flavor, though it’s not present on around a quarter of the puffs. The finish has some tartness with individual flavors of leather, herbs and grass. The core creaminess over woodiness flavor is still around for the finish, but it’s a distant secondary note. Retrohales add some bitterness with leather and potato starchiness being the main difference from the main flavor. They finish with nuttiness over creaminess, leather and touches of a sharp white pepper. Flavor is full, body is medium-full and strength is medium. The draws are pretty open on all three cigars—though one is more manageable—but it’s not having any adverse effect on the other aspects of construction as the burn is impressively even, and smoke production is massive. It’s not so open that I can’t control the draw, but many times, I’m taking multiple pulls on the draw per “puff.”

Rich creaminess and nuttiness lead the dance in the middle portion of the cigar. It’s a flavor combination that I enjoy and it’s executed pretty well here. Secondary notes differ between the cigars, though the list includes toastiness, honey sweetness, pepper, and, on one cigar, some metallic harshness. The finish on two cigars is pretty similar: milky creaminess over some granola flavors and bitterness. The cigar with metallic sharpness sees that flavor carry over to the finish, where it is joined by peppermint, woodiness, saltiness and sweetness. I find that cigar to be the most interesting as the metallic flavor is just slightly stronger than the other sensations and the way the flavors interact with one another creates a more dynamic profile, even if it’s more taxing on the palate. That potato starchiness I tasted during the first third’s retrohale has morphed into a flavor that reminds me of the aromas of making a roux, meaning some flour, creaminess, the sweetness evaporating in the air, etc. There’s more or less no pepper to be found, which is somewhat surprising, though one cigar still has some of the metallic flavors. Flavor remains full, body is a tad bit lighter than before—though probably still medium-full—and strength remains medium. One cigar needs a touch-up to help with an uneven burn, the first—and to this point, only—an instance of the open draw having a negative effect, at least on the construction. I bring up that last part because I have no doubt that the flavor is being affected by the burn issues. I don’t find the cigars to be burning hot and for the most part, they avoid becoming hot, but I’m aware that if the burn is this problematic, the flavor—even if it is enjoyable—is probably not maximizing its potential.

Woodiness is the star of the final third of the Kristoff TAA Exclusive 2023. It’s not a specific wood flavor, at least not to my non-woodworker palate, but rather a medley of different woody sensations. A generic but dynamic black pepper has added itself to the profile, which has a pretty dramatic effect on the milky creaminess. The end result is a profile that is more interesting than the earlier parts, though I can’t find as many flavors. This is really apparent during the finish: creaminess and woodiness drown out what appear to be hints of sugar and a vegetable stock-like flavor. The stronger flavors are stronger than before and the other flavors don’t keep pace. Retrohales heave leather and earthiness accented by saltiness and black pepper. On the cigar that had metallic sensations earlier, those metallic flavors are still around, though milder than before. Toastiness emerges on the finish, along with some nuttiness and sharpness in the middle of the palate. As I’m ready to put down the final cigar, I notice there’s a cooling menthol-like sensation, though it’s pretty fleeting. Flavor is still full though not as strong as before, body is medium-plus and strength is medium-plus. All three cigars need at least one touch-up in the final third, mostly to help with combustion, though one cigar has some unevenness issues.

Final Notes

• If you don’t read anything else—and missed my first warning—read this: don’t cut very much off the cap. On the third cigar, I cut off less than a quarter inch of the cap, probably around .15 inches. That produced a much better cigar, though the draw still needed improvement. Normally, I’m not fond of repeating myself, but it’s an essential part of smoking this cigar.
• Not only was the draw too open, but it also made the cigar taxing to smoke. I had to apply a lot of extra effort to make sure that each draw pulled a normal amount of smoke through the cigar. While I don’t think this is what the inside of the cigar was, drawing on it felt like there was a part of the cigar that was really tight while the rest of the cigar was bunched too loose.
• Whatever the case, the effort that it required meant that I was thinking about the draw a lot.
• Typically, cigars that lose points for construction lose it because of burn issues. This is the rare case where the burn was fine—at least through the first half—but the cigar was consistently getting docked for a poor draw. Typically, if the draw is bad, the burn is going to struggle as well.
• The ash formation is extremely impressive. The ash holds onto the cigar, and even after multiple firm taps, sometimes would still hold on. It also comes together evenly.
• Flavor-wise, I think this is probably the most enjoyable Kristoff I’ve smoked. Admittedly, I’ve not smoked the company’s entire portfolio, or probably even half of it. That said, the flavor was good enough that I’d smoke these cigars again, even if the draw issue isn’t fixed.
• In Patrick Lagreid’s most recent review, he indicated he didn’t think the cigar tasted how the company described the profile in its press release. Glen Case, Kristoff’s founder, described this cigar as “a full-flavored, mild cigar…” That is pretty accurate to what I found. Technically, he said it “redefines the meaning of a full-flavored, mild cigar,” I don’t think we need to update our cigar dictionaries.
• Because the PCA Convention & Trade Show, another trade show, is moving its date from July to late March, the TAA is moving next year’s annual meeting and convention to the fall. I haven’t thought much about this, but I wonder if that means a change to how the TAA ESP cigars are released. If companies keep the same approach, there’s a good chance the TAA 2024 cigars wouldn’t arrive until 2025. That said, I know the TAA was interested in diversifying the ESP cigars’ release dates a bit more, so perhaps we see some TAA 2024 cigars released before the event.
• This cigar produces a lot of salivation in the mouth.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was just under three hours on average.