Tag Archives: Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust

by Craig Vanderslice | December 8, 2019 · 10:39 am

Random Cigars and a Dunbarton Event at BnB Cigars in Philly

I already posted this week about the new cigar I smoked, and I’ll get to the other one in a bit, but first I want to recap a few other cigars I revisited during the course of the week. I’ve been busying myself helping out a friend and continuing my job search. It’s a bad time of year for this sort of thing, but I did it once in 2002, so I should be able to pull it off again. so I’ve been continuing my evening routine of having a cigar and taking a walk, weather permitting. It’s been cold (or advancing age has reduced my tolerance), so I’ve been choosing more robustos, so one day this week I grabbed a La Aurora 1962 Corojo Robusto. Since I bought my first box of cigars in 1996 (La Aurora Bristol Especiales), I’ve always had some La Auroras in the humidor. It’s a sentimental choice for a few reasons. My celebration cigar when my grandchildren were born was the 2003 Puro Vintage, and I have two stashed for the next two grand children, but I suspect they will be very well aged by the time I’ll be smoking them. My daughter’s name is Aurora, which might be important information in this story, ties it together, I suppose. She may still have that old box from 1996 someplace. Anyway, the 1962 Corojo uses a Dominican Corojo wrapper, Ecuador binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers and is a medium bodied cigar with nice flavor. It’s one of those cigars that I can’t really pinpoint flavors but it’s flavors I like, and I know I can just grab one and have a good experience. Honestly, I’ve only ever smoked the 5″ x 50 robusto, so I’d solve to try this in the toro or Churchill size one of these days. I want to say the the 1903 Cameroon and 1987 Connecticut have the same binder and filler, with only the wrapper being different, I like all three.

If I were going to do something crazy, like have a cigar of the year, my next cigar would be in the running, or at least the brand would. I might just do it, because the Don Juan Calavera line from Danli Honduras Tabaco has really captured my corozón! I smoked the Connecticut this week, because it’s hard for me to not smoke these all up. I’m at a serious crossroads as to which of their three offerings is my favorite, Connecticut, Sumatra, or Maduro. The Connecticut is atypical, it is creamy, but not grassy, and not at all mild. Like every cigar I’ve smoked from the line, the construction has been excellent, burn and draw have been perfect. I’m trying to find out the best pathway to purchase these, so far e-mailing them, using the form on their website, or contacting them via Facebook seems to be the only way to buy them. As soon as can provide an easy to follow guide to purchasing these I’ll post it, because everyone should be enjoying these. Edit: I just received word that at this time contacting the manufacturer is one way to get them, but two stores in Virginia carry them, Blacksburg Pipe & Tobacco (Blacksburg VA) and Milan Tobacconists (Roanoke VA). Try calling these stores to purchase the cigars. I should save some gushing for that cigar brand of the year post! Shh…don’t tell anyone!

Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to smoke the Mi Querida Triqui Traca, and I did so at BnB Cigars in Chestnut Hill, PA. They were having an event there with Steve Saka and Dave Lafferty (Cindy Saka was there too) of Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, with a bunch of test blends that Steve had accumulated over the years as add-ons to purchases. I smoked one which was obviously a Mi Querida Gordita with some variation of the wrapper, although who could tell? It was delicious. Of course, I always learn stuff hanging with these guys, and the store is a cornucopia of boutique cigars. I highly recommend a visit there, if not in person, check them out for your online shopping, as Vince has curated an amazing selection of cigars. The lounge is comfortable and the clientele is friendly as well (which will mean nothing if you shop online). Anyway, the Mi Querida Triqui Traca I smoked was the 648, which is a clever name, as it’s 6″ x 48. This blend is based off of the Mi Querida Firecracker blend that Steve made for Two Guys Cigars last year, so it’s got a little more oomph than the Mi Querida line. I really enjoyed it, although it’s too early to tell if I like it more than the regular line, I don’t think I really need to have a preference actually, I can like them both equally! The Triqui Traca had the great espresso and spice that I love with more of the ligero power. I was told that the strength manifests itself more if you keep it in your mouth while smoking, which I don’t, so I guess I missed out on that aspect. It, as always, is great seeing my friends and spending time with them. I was surprised there weren’t as many Saka fans there, but I’m sure many wish they could have been.

That’s plenty for today. I have a Sobremesa Brulé on the menu for today, I actually haven’t smoked regular production versions yet, so I’m looking forward to it. If I have the time there might be other goodies from yesterday to smoke. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as BNB Cigars, cigar, cigar store, cigars, Danli Honduras Tabacos, DOn Juan Calavera, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, La Aurora, Mi Querida, Triqui Traca

by Craig Vanderslice | October 27, 2019 · 11:31 am

An Afternoon at Famous Smoke Shop and Their Dunbarton 80th Anniversary Cigar

I’ve been beset with a head cold all week, adding insult to injury, of course. I did have a productive phone interview with a recruiter which could lead to something hopefully, so it wasn’t a wasted week. Having a cold like this messes with the taste buds, so after a few days of not even considering having a cigar, I broke the ice with something familiar to see where I stood. I grabbed a Nica Rustica El Brujito, which is a favorite. I know this cigar very well, so if my palate is skewed, I’ll know it smoking this cigar, and it was. It was still good, but tasted different. So I knew not to try anything new for a while, or at least to temper any expectations based on this information. This is important for you to know moving forward.

Yesterday I took a drive up to Easton, PA to Famous Smoke Shop where Steve Saka was hosting the launch of his contribution to their 80th Anniversary, the Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Famous Smoke Shop 80th Anniversary Edition. Steve had a blending seminar which was attended by 35 or 40 people, who had tobacco ad chavettas and actually rolled and tasted tobaccos with Steve’s instruction. I didn’t attend this event, but those who did raved about it and appeared to have enjoyed it and perhaps were a little overwhelmed! I’ve known Steve long enough to know that he can throw a LOT of information at you quickly, and that the 2 or 3 hour seminar could easily have been 8 if he’d have been allowed. Saka’s a shy guy, but if you can get him out of his shell, you can’t shut him up. I kid. I probably should have gotten a ticket and attended, but I didn’t, so I’m going on what I heard from others. To test my questionable palate, I lit up an Umbagog on my drive up, still a little off, but the Umbagog was still delicious. I got there while the blending session was going on, and hung out with folks in the shop, including familiar faces such as Ali, our local EPC rep. Eventually the event ended and Dave Lafferty emerged and began selling the new Famous Smoke Shop Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust 80th Anniversary Edition cigars. I did purchase said cigars, and eventually lit one up. This is an interesting cigar in the DTT line up. It’s box pressed, made at NACSA with a sun grown Nicaraguan H2000 wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers. They only made 250 boxes of these, and there will be some available for sale on Famous’ website tomorrow (or maybe Tuesday, but don’t wait on account of me, look Monday).

Full disclaimer (for the third time, in case you haven’t been paying attention), this cold has my palate screwed up, so my tasting notes on the DTT Famous 80th aren’t what they should be, but really, folks, when are they all that detailed? I talked to Steve about the wrapper, which looked like a dark chocolate maduro in Famous’ press pictures. Good enough to eat, really, like a Godiva chocolate cigar. It turns out it’s not a maduro, but a H2000 wrapper. 20 years ago when this hybrid came out, it was bred to be disease resistant, but it was also flame retardant! Several brands of cigars were hyped up and basically destroyed because when they hit the market they wouldn’t burn. Tasted great, but you had to relight them ten or fifteen times. I think the lighter fuel industry had a stake in the development of the hybrid. After a while, the tobacco processors figured out how to handle this new leaf in the pre-industry processing, and now it burns right, and tastes great too. So Steve used it on this cigar. It started out on the mellow side for me, although some mentioned it was spicy. I did get a distinct cinnamon flavor on one draw about an inch in, but that was a one and done. For the fourth time, I’m working with a compromised palate here! Considering this was a cigar fresh from the box, which had been in unknown humidification conditions, it burned well, and drew perfectly. This is made in the same factory as my beloved Umbagog (and Mi Querida), by the way. The later half of the cigar was a build up in body, and strength, although I never found it to be more than medium strength. My second proviso is that I was smoking this very slowly too, as I was socializing. Overall, I really liked the cigar and look forward to smoking it on a healthy palate. I know Steve wouldn’t put his name on a cigar he wasn’t 100% satisfied with, especially if it was for something as important as a company’s 80th anniversary. It’s always great to see Steve, Cindy and Dave when they are around.

That’s all for today. Once it clears up, I guess I’ll get back to trying to see if my palate is still out of whack. I suppose as long as my sinuses are still goofy, my tasters will still be off. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Famous Smoke Shop, Umbagog

by Craig Vanderslice | August 28, 2019 · 10:59 am

A Sin Compromiso Cigar with a Broadleaf Wrapper

I had a great three paragraph post written about this and some other cigars and it disappeared into the WordPress ether someplace, so I’m trying to quickly re-write a piece of it before heading off to work. The rest will have to wait! Monday I smoked a Sin Compromiso with a Broadleaf wrapper that I got at the Famous Smokeshop event I attended a few months back. I decided on this cigar on Monday for a few reasons. First, 2 Guys Cigars released the second (and probably last) round of the Mi Querida Firecrackers for sale. These are great little cigars. The second reason was to celebrate Saka’s birthday, because he doesn’t celebrate it himself. He’s told me that he thinks celebrating birthdays is for ten year old girls, which explains the pink wrapping paper with the stuffed My Little Kitty on the present he gave me for my 50th birthday years ago. For the record, I have two years on him. If he’s anything like me, having a late August birthday is a bummer because it signals the end of summer, and I always get a little down this time of year. I don’t look forward to my birthday much either. Any way, I smoked the cigar, which is probably more of a unicorn than his Unicorn is, and I really enjoyed it. I doubt that it will become a reality, though, given the shortage of broadleaf, and my impression that the broadleaf wrapper seemed to dominate the smokiness that I think makes the Sin Compromiso Special. Not that my palate is worth anything, and this might be next year’s big release, what do I know? Anyway, I thought it was a brilliant cigar and it suited my tastes perfectly, but all I require is strong espresso notes and good quality tobacco and I’m a happy camper. This was a winner and I’ll likely never smoke another one like it! Happy Birthday Steve!

The post I wrote that vanished also included the ACID 20, I’ll circle back to that later as I’m short of time now, but look for those on tobacconist’s shelves soon. Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Saka, Sin Compromiso

by Craig Vanderslice | June 25, 2019 · 6:07 pm

News: Mi Querida Triqui Traca Offered at 2019 IPCPR Trade Show

Tuesday news from Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. I haven’t tried the Triqui Traca, and I’m a little sad about that. I’ve smoked a bunch of the Firecrackers (I am waiting for delivery of the latest Firecrackers, by the way!), and I can’t wait to get ahold of the Triqui Tracas! I am a big Mi Querida fan and the extra oomph in that blend is extra special.

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust® will be showcasing its Mi Querida® Triqui Traca of handcrafted cigars at this year’s 87th Annual Convention of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 28th through July 2nd, 2019.

“Mi Querida Triqui Traca, pronounced ‘me kay-ree-dah tree-kee trah-ka’, is arguably our boldest cigar released to date,” shares Founder and Master Ligador Steve Saka. Adding, “At its core, it remains our quintessential Mi Querida blend with its earthy, sweet broadleaf notes, but with the incorporation of a couple refinements. The capa has been switched from the traditional Connecticut Broadleaf Mediums to the rarer No. 1 Dark corona leaves plus a unique, high octane ligero grown in the Dominican Republic has also been introduced into the liga. The resulting cigar retains its inherent sweet loam and chocolate characteristics, yet delivers a significantly heavier smoking experience.”

Saka explains, “’Triqui Traca’ is Nicaraguan slang for oversized firecrackers that are connected by fuses in a long serial string. These explosive ropes are then laid down in the center of a street and sometimes stretch multiple blocks. Ignited from one end, they explode in a cascading line of powerful concussions and blinding light down the entire length of the street. Triqui Traca are often lit in celebration of important religious and national holidays. This cultural icon is an ideal moniker for the explosive nature of this cigar.”

Mi Querida Triqui Traca will be offered to Select Purveyors and will be initially available in only two formats: No. 552 – 5.00 x 52 and the No. 648 – 6.00 x 48. The cigars will feature a red band and chevron on the box corner to easily identify them from the core Mi Querida liga. Packed in 20 count SBN boxes, the MSRP ranges from $10.75 to $11.75 respectively per cigar. Initial availability of these cigars will be extremely limited due to tobacco constraints.

The anticipated ship date to those Select Purveyors who order at this year’s trade show is September 2019.

About Steve Saka

Regarded as a cigar expert throughout the industry, he is credited as being an experienced cigar blender and maker, a prolific author regarding cigars and black tobaccos, a forefather within the online media segment and a dynamic tobacco industry executive. In 2000, he worked directly for Lew Rothman, the former owner of JR Cigar, as an executive consultant for four years and he subsequently served as the President, then CEO of Drew Estate from 2005 through 2013. In 2015, he established the family held Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust to craft and distribute traditional handmade puros.

For more information, please visit: www.dunbartoncigars.com. ®Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and Mi Querida are registered trademarks of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and/or affiliated companies.

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Firecracker, IPCPR, Mi Querida, Triqui Traca

by Craig Vanderslice | June 24, 2019 · 6:25 pm

News: Dunbarton Tobacco And Trust Debuts Sobremesa Brûlée at IPCPR

I’ve smoked the Brulee, the Brulee is spectacular. It’s a must try when these become available, whether you like Connecticut shade cigars or not. Saka put his spin on the classic mild(er) cigar and it’s a good one. Check out what he has to say about it:

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust® will be debuting the Sobremesa Brûlée® blend of fine handmade cigars at this year’s 87th Annual Convention of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 28th through July 2nd, 2019.

“Sobremesa Brûlée is a recreation of the milder, shade wrapped ligas of my early years. Somewhere over the last three decades many of the classic shade cigars have become wispy, uninspiring and rather dull to my palate. I wanted to share with others the way I remember these blonde cigars being,” states Master Blender Steve Saka. “Also as ligador and tobacco man, I do not understand the recent trend of making strong Connecticut Shade cigars aka “not your grandfather’s cigar”. To me this seems like an oxymoron and a fundamental lack of appreciation of the enchanting characteristics and nuances of shade grown Connecticut Seed tobaccos. In Brûlée, I embraced this shade capa and dedicated myself to showcasing its mild, sweet and nutty nature.”

He continues to add, “The Brûlée is a variation of the core Sobremesa® liga in which the Pennsylvania Seedleaf ligero has been removed, the Condega Seco has been increased and the wrapper is replaced with a top shelf grade of BW Ecuador Connecticut Shade leaf. The result is a milder, even smoother adaptation of the Sobremesa blend that does not sacrifice its wonderfully complex flavors or aromas. This is not a cigar to be smoked casually, but rather a relaxing smoking experience meant to be savored slowly.”

Sobremesa Brûlée will be offered to Select Purveyors and it will be available in three vitolas: Brûlée Robusto – 5.25 x 52, Brûlée Toro – 6.00 x 52 and the Brûlée Gordo 6.25 x 60. Packed in 13 count dress boxes, the MSRP ranges from $12.45 to $13.95 per cigar. Initial availability will be very limited.
The anticipated ship date to those Select Purveyors who order at this year’s tradeshow is July 2019.

Sobremesa Brûlée
Crafted by Joya de Nicaragua, S.A.
Master Blender: Sr. Steve Saka
Esteli, Nicaragua

Sobremesa, “over the table”, has no precise English translation, perhaps because there is no cultural equivalent in the US. It is an idiom used among the Latin culture to describe the leisurely time spent tableside after you have finished dining, but before you rise. It is the experience of lingering casually with family and friends in conversation, relaxing, drinking, smoking, and enjoying each other’s company. Sobremesa is one of life’s simplest, yet greatest pleasures.

The Brûlée is a variation of the core Sobremesa liga in which the Pennsylvania Seedleaf ligero has been removed, the Condega Seco has been increased and the Capa is now a top shelf grade of Ecuador Connecticut Shade. The result is a milder, even smoother adaptation of the Sobremesa blend that continues to retain its wonderfully complex flavors and aromas.

Frontmarks:
Brûlée Robusto – 5.25 x 52, Brûlée Toro – 6.00 x 52, Brûlée Gordo – 6.25 x 60 all in a 13ct Semi-Dressed FBN Box.

Liga Details:
Capa:Ecuador Connecticut Shade G2BW

Capote: San Andreas Negro

Tripa: Nicaraguan
Forteleza: Mild-Medium

Flavor Profile:A creamy liga with softer flavors of cedar, caramel and café, which are complimented by its inherent sweetness being allowed to blossom on the palate and nose – a nuttiness is also apparent within this blend.

Puro Style:Milder, yet flavorful and satisfying. Good for both the inexperienced
and experienced palate.

Maker’s Notes:

My recreation of the mild shade ligas of my youth. Somewhere over the last three decades most Shade cigars have become wispy and uninspiring, dull and flat. I wanted to share with others the way I remember these blonde cigars to be.
As a blender, I do not understand the recent trend to make biting CT Shade cigars aka “not your grandfather’s shade cigar”. I view these as a novelty at best, in Brûlée I embraced the shade wrapper and worked to showcase its mild, sweet and nutty nature.
This cigar is a departure from the robust, full bodied blends I am best known for.
Not a cigar to be rushed through, it deserves relaxed focus to best be enjoyed.

About Steve Saka

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Tagged as Brulee, cigar, cigars, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust, Sobremesa