Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Muestra de Saka Nacatamale

Today was a snowy day here in PA, so I decided to take the afternoon off of work so I didn’t have to risk the drive home in rush hour. This turned out to be anticlimactic, as the snow tapered off, but, after clearing the slop off the driveway, I decided to hang out on the porch with Macha and a Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Muestra de Saka Nacatamale. I’ve had a couple of these in the humidor for a few months now, waiting for the right time to spark one up, and decided this was it.  Last year I smoked a Muestra de Saka Exclusivo with a couple of friends, and really enjoyed it, although it was a milder cigar, with loads of flavor and complexity, and last week I gave the Todos Las Dias another try, and I’m still looking forward to smoking one that draws well, it seems like those really need to be stored at a lower humidity. I went into the Nacatamale with no expectations, except to have a high quality smoking experience.  I was not disappointed.  This is a perfect sized cigar, 6″ x 48, with a nice pigtail cap.  These are made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory in Esteli, which celebrates its 50th year this year, and is one of my very favorite factories (I’ve had the good fortune of visiting the factory on two occasions). Blend information is elusive, some outlets say there are tobaccos from all of the tobacco-growing regions of Nicaragua and it’s a puro, others state that the fillers are all from a single farm, with and Ecuador Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan binder. Perhaps there’s some confusion with the Exclusivo, perhaps the confusion is my own. It hardly matters to me, it’s a great cigar and I lean toward the single farm origin. The Nacatamale is a full flavored cigar, it has some punch to it, and strong, rich flavors of wood and chocolate with some subtle spice. While I think the Exclusivo was closer in character to the Sobremesa, I likened the Nctamaale more to the Mi Querida, not the same, just closer in general. I loved it, I’d happily purchase these, as I did with the Exclusivos (the Nacatamales were gifted to me by the company), but as Steve Saka would tell you himself, I like cheap cigars, hence my enjoyment of the Umbagog. The presentation is outstanding with the individual coffins and ribbon on the foot. Thanks to Steve and Cindy for the opportunity to smoke this cigar on a rare afternoon off.

That’s all for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig