Today, we review The Vow 7.05 from Avowed Cigars. The Vow is one of the two inaugural regular production lines from Avowed Cigars. Avowed Cigars is a company founded by Andrew Considine and Dave West. Both Considine and West have a long-standing association with Small Batch Cigars, an online retailer based in California. Inspired by their retail experience, they decided to venture into manufacturing. In February 2025, the duo officially launched Avowed Cigars. To produce their cigars, Avowed worked with Klaas Kelner. Klaas is the son of legendary blender Henke Kelner. In 2023, Klaas would open his own factory, Kelner Cigars S.A.S.
The Vow is a cigar line offered in three sizes. Each of these three different sizes has a different blend. As we will see, these are more than just “tweaks” to a core recipe; they are blended to size. The blend does have a common set of tobacco components, but specific leaves have been added to some of the sizes.
Without further ado, let’s break down The Vow 7.05 and see what this cigar brings to the table.
SPECIFICATIONS
Vitolas Available
Because it is easier to describe the size first, then the blend, we flipped the Blend and Origin and Vitolas Available sections. All three sizes come in ten-count boxes.
- 7.05 (Corona Gorda):: 6 x 48
- 6.29 (Toro): 6 x 50
- 11.35 (Gran Robusto): 5 1/2 x 55
Blend and Origin
All blends in the Vow line use an Ecuadorian Habano binder and filler. Additionally, each filler features a combination of Piloto Cubano, Criollo ’98, Corojo ’99, and San Vicente tobaccos. The 6.29 size includes a leaf of Cotui tobacco in the filler, a feature unique to that size. Meanwhile, the 11.25 size incorporates a leaf of Brazilian Cubra, which is unique to its size as well. Today, we are reviewing the 7.05 size, which can be considered the core blend from which the others are derived.
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
- Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
- Filler:
- Piloto Cubano
- Criollo ’98
- Corojo ’99
- San Vicente
- Cotui (6.29 size only)
- Brazilian Cubra (11.25 size only)
- Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
- Factory: Kelner Cigars S.A.S.
All three sizes are produced at the Kelner Cigars factory in the Dominican Republic. Each size was extensively aged at the Kelner S.A.S. factory for at least 9-18 months after production. The cigars were also rolled by a single pair at the factory.
Appearance (*)
The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper of The Vow 7.05 was medium brown. There was a touch of rosado color to this wrapper. The surface of the wrapper had a very light sheen of oil. In addition, some thin veins were visible on the wrapper. Any wrapper seams were pretty much well hidden.
PERFORMANCE
Pre-Light Draw (*)
A straight cut was used to remove the cap of The Vow 7.05. Once the cap was removed, it was time to commence the pre-light draw. The cold draw mostly had notes of grain and wood. Personally, this pre-light draw fell a little flat. Since the pre-light draw experience is not scored, there was no loss of points here. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of The Vow 7.05 and head into the smoking phase.
Tasting Notes
The Vow 7.05 opened up with notes of dry earth, cedar, herb, nuts, and black pepper. Early on,n there was no dominant note. The retro-hale did deliver an additional layer of black pepper. As the cigar moved through the first third, the herbal notes had a vegetal undertone. Meanwhile, the earth, cedar, pepper, and nut notes settled in the background.
During the second third of The Vow 7.05. The herbal and vegetal notes remained primary. There was an increase in the black pepper. The nut notes slowly faded and were gone later in the second half. Meanwhile, the notes of earth and cedar were also present.
In the final third, the herbal and vegetal notes remained primary. The pepper notes were now the most prominent of the secondary notes. Meanwhile, the notes of cedar and earth were still present. This is the way The Vow 7.05 came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn
While The Vow 7.05 maintained a straight burn path, it did require multiple touchups to do so. While the touchups did the trick, more were needed than I preferred. There was a slight amount of jaggedness on the burn line from time to time, but this really didn’t prove problematic. The resulting ash had a salt-and-pepper complexion. This wasn’t an overly firm ash, but it wasn’t loose nor flaky either. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature remained at ideal levels.
Draw
The draw to The Vow 7.05 was a little snug at times. There were no times the cigar was plugged or required a relight. While normally I like a little resistance on the draw, this was sometimes slightly over the threshold.
Strength and Body
The strength and body of The Vow 7.05 started in the medium range. There was a gradual increase in the first half. By the second half, this cigar was just in medium to full territory for strength and body. The increase leveled off in the second half. Throughout the cigar, both the strength and body balanced each other nicely.
BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)
I had seen the chestnut-colored box on Avowed’s New Dawn. While The Vow uses a wider, ten-count box, the color pops just as well. I also like the gold and green on the Avowed logo. My only complaint about the logo is that it looks too much like the AVO Cigars logo – especially on the band. For whatever reason, it seemed more noticeable on The Vow band than the New Dawn band.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
The Vow 7.05 receives a solid score of 88 points. Although the combination of herbal, vegetal, and cedar notes typically isn’t my preference, I found them acceptable in this case. This piques my interest in trying other sizes of The Vow with their modified blends. Priced at $17.00, the Vow 7.05 is on the higher end. Given its price and the polarizing nature of its flavor profile, I recommend trying it first to see how it suits your tastes.
- Key Flavors: Herbal Notes, Vegetal Notes, Cedar, Earth, Nut, Pepper
- Burn: Very Good
- Draw: Very Good
- Complexity: Medium
- Strength: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
- Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
- Finish: Very Good
Rating
Value: Try a Sample
Score: 88
REFERENCES
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted
(*) Indicates this is not factored into the score or value rating
