Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro
Binder: Cuban Seed Nicaraguan
Filler: Cuban Seed Nicaraguan, Cuban Seed Dominican, Cuban Seed Honduran
Size: 6.25 x 54 “Toro”
Body: Full
Price: $9.50

Unveiled at the 2013 IPCPR trade show, this line of Galerones blends produced a very positive reaction. According to Glen Case, owner of Kristoff, this is one big step for mankind. Of the four blends, the Intensivo is the strongest one. This line is also the most expensive.

The blends all come in four sizes: Robusto, Toro, Torpedo and Gordo.

And they are: Kristoff Galerones Series Ceniza De Plata, Kristoff Galerones Series DR4, Kristoff Galerones Series Sentido, and the Intensivo being reviewed today. Only the Intensivo is box pressed in all four sizes. In order of strength starting with the strongest are: Intensivo, Sentido, Centiza de Plato, and the DR4.

The cigars are being manufactured at the PDR Cigars factory in the DR. Abe Flores provided some very distinct directions and help in developing this line. Case liked Flores so much that he plans to continue working with him in the future.

Retail pricing for all four lines is $9.50-$11.50 each.

Construction is almost flawless as seams are nearly invisible. The triple cap is impeccable. Gone are the typical Kristoff pig tails. And no shaggy feet. The wrapper is very dark, with a semi-oily sheen and extremely toothy texture. The wrapper is coffee bean color. In fact, the whole stick has the look of a Villiger dry cured cigar. And I don’t mean that in a disrespectful manner.

The double cigar band is regal and beautiful. The main band hails that it is a Kristoff Galerones. And the secondary band states the blend. The box press has the sharpest square corners I’ve seen anywhere.

I clip the cap and find aromas of a very impressive floral note, spice that makes my eyes water, cedar, spicy cinnamon, anise, and cocoa.
Time to light up.

Right out of the gate is powerful red pepper. Smoke fills the room. The draw is perfect and the char line goes awry quickly so I touch it up and cross my fingers. I only have one of these as they were a gift from Bobby C.

Soon after, the pepper subsides a bit and sweetness appears along with a bit of creaminess to tame the beast.

By the 1” mark, two more flavors show up: cocoa and dark espresso. Almost bitter. The Nicaraguan leaves are having a big influence early on.

At this early point, the cigar is very chewy and has a long finish…which is a nice surprise.

The burn line continues to be a bit wavy but I leave it alone. I’ve had this stick in my humidor for three weeks and based on what I am enjoying, I’d say that I am getting most of the blender’s intent. Of course, more humidor time will build its character and probably lessen the spiciness.

I near the end of the first third when caramel adds to the sweetness. I have to say that this is an extremely pleasant cigar. Obviously, it is heading for flavor bomb status. But it is teasing me at this point in the burn.
And then the cigar takes on a very sweet nutty taste. Can’t identify the nut.

The second third begins with these flavors: Spice, sweetness, creaminess, caramel, cocoa, espresso, cedar, and fruit…I can’t quite get a handle on the fruitiness yet.

I remove the secondary band and the heat melted the contact points so it sort of ruins getting a nice photo.

The cigar becomes complex now. Flavors are subdued but all accounted for. A wonderful earthiness shows itself for the first time.

My opinion of the cigar, at the nearly halfway point, is that it is a very flavorful cigar and I can taste the work put into the blending. My opinion is that the cigar needs a couple months of humidor time instead of 3 weeks. I will probably withhold my judgment until the end of the cigar.

The creaminess makes a real surge forward nearly drowning out the other flavors. And as I write this, the other flavors are emboldened. The fruit is some sort of dried fruit but not raisin. It is muskier than raisin. It tastes like a cross between dried mango and dates.

I believe that Glen Case is definitely heading in the right direction with the release of these new blends. I have to get my hands on the other three blends.

The char line has become nearly razor sharp and the waviness is gone. I remove the main cigar band and the exact same thing happens. A huge white spot is left on the band from the glue being dysfunctional.
Such a beautiful band marred by some sort of unknown problem.

I begin the last third and the flavor profile is very rich and extremely well balanced. This is the sweet spot.

All of the earlier described flavors are present and accounted for. Nothing new has been added. The only change is that the flavors are deep, rich, and bold with character.

Most definitely, this is not a $5-$6 stick. Too complex. And that is exactly what this cigar has going for it.

A run down on the strength of the cigar…it starts out at classic medium. By the halfway mark is escalates to medium/full. And now in the last third, it is a full bodied stick. But no sign of nicotine yet.

With barely 1-1/2” to go, the nicotine kicks in.

The cigar finishes up as a very enjoyable experience. I have to give in and say that this cigar is worth the price point. A lot of work went into this blend.
I’m happy to see that Glen Case branched out like he did. It shows a giant leap in his blending talent. I look forward to trying the other blends.

And now for something completely different:

I became a pistol enthusiast after our family became victims of something horrible. It was 1997. And we lived in Mesa, AZ.
I decided to get a concealed carry weapon license.

Back then, the class was 16 hours, which included range time. The range, where I shot often, had a very high tech set of tools. The most useful tool was actually designed for training police officers. It was a giant interactive video game. The TV monitor was at least 72”. And like at the arcade, it had a plastic pistol hooked up via a cable to the machine.

The purpose of the video was to put you into a myriad of dangerous situations that were all life and death scenarios. You had to yell out commands, and then shoot when necessary. The most embarrassing part of this exercise was that when you finished, the short video was played back and it showed you where your bullets hit. Most of us missed the target by a country mile. Adrenaline. The whole class watched so it made it even more difficult to be calm.

It was an eye opening experience. This tool emphasized the need for practice, practice, practice.

I taught my 11 year old daughter how to shoot. I bought her a small gun; a Browning .380 semi auto. She would go to the range and we had a great time.

As it turned out, she was really good with a pistol. Afterwards, we would sit at the dining room table cleaning our guns. It was a nice bonding experience.

We went to the range every weekend. Katie was a natural. She got so good that the owner of the range offered me a deal. A huge window separated the range from the store. Men would come in with their wives to get them armed and dangerous. Most women were very shy and afraid. But when we were there and the women saw an 11 year old totally at ease, it helped sell guns.

We would spend a couple hours at the range and often, Katie would want a bag of Skittles or a soda. She had a tactical holster and I allowed her to wear her gun when she went into the store. The employees got the biggest kick out of that..watching a little girl totally in control and not behaving inappropriately with a gun strapped to her hip.

Here is his offer…he took me aside and said he would pay me to bring Katie to the range every weekend and spend 7-8 hours shooting. Clearly, Katie was making a difference in the sales of guns to women. But I said no. I didn’t think that was appropriate for an 11 year old. Not to mention, her attention span would never allow an 8 hour session on Saturday and Sunday.

I took several CCW classes on the advice of my mentor who recommended going to classes taught by different instructors. I learned something new in each class.

Katie asked if she could go with me. So I ponied up the dough and we took a weekend class.

The classroom stuff bored her a bit as it would any 11 year old. So she kept tugging at me arm asking; “When are we going to shoot?”

This class used an outdoor range. Katie had all her own equipment: eyes and ears. She knew how to load a magazine. She knew everything about her Browning which is actually the same as a Beretta 92 style weapon. Just smaller.

There were about 35 of us in the class and we all lined up, loaded our weapons, and waited for the go ahead to start shooting.

I was admonished, at first, by the range master about the kid. Katie liked to fire off all her rounds in about 2.3 seconds. The funny thing is that she was pretty accurate with about a 3” spread at 25 yards.

But this was frowned on. So Katie shot the way the rest of us did…taking our time.

When it was all over, we were awarded with a completion of class certificate. Katie did not get one because you had to be over 21.

As we got into the car, Katie asked me when she was going to get her CCW license. I laughed out loud. I explained she was too young. But she wouldn’t let up. The whole way home was, “Why not?” Over and over.

I asked her what she would do with the license if she had one?
“I’d wear my gun around.”
Oy vay.

And now, 17 years later, she is about to take the test to become a Milwaukee police officer. With her connections with the police department, being a female, and being an EMT, it should be a slam dunk.
And then her mom and I will worry all the time.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, glen case, kristoff, Kristoff Galerones Intensivo Cigar Review