Tag Archives: Mi Querida

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 | April 2, 2019 · 9:46 am

Podcast: Episode 13: Sunday Funday with Steve Saka

Sunday, March 31, I attended an event at Famous Smokeshop‘s Easton PA. location, where they have their retail store and the Leaf Cigar Bar. They were hosting the Sunday Funday with Steve Saka, which featured an afternoon of Jameson Irish Whiskey, three Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust cigars, and three gourmet donuts. I managed to get Steve out of his shell for a few minutes, you know how shy he is…so I hope you enjoy listening to this episode.

This might be the first place you’re hearing about the Polpette, Steve’s mixed filler creation! I smoked it, and it was awesome at 10 days old, and will end up being one of those cigars that people trip over themselves to get ahold of, whether Steve believes it or not! I know it’s been a while between shows, hopefully now that it’s spring, I’ll have more opportunities to record. Until the the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Dunbarton, Famous, Leaf, Mi Querida, Muestra De Saka, Saka, Sin Compromiso, Sobremesa, Todos Las Dias, Umbagog

by CigarCraig | February 3, 2019 · 11:45 am

Casa Favilli and Mi Querida Cigars and Groovy Groomsmen Gifts

It was cold this week, and I had a hard time getting opportunities to have a cigar. Last Sunday when I visited Pairings Cigar Bar in Media, PA, I picked up a couple Mombacho Casa Favilli torpedos that I spied in the humidor I was sitting next to. I didn’t even look at the price, uncharacteristic of me, I just knew I wanted to try a cigar with a broadleaf wrapper grown in Jalapa, and I knew these were not widely available. The opportunity presented itself and I had to take advantage of it. I still don’t know what they cost, and I don;t want to know, I paid my tab and felt like I got a good value for my visit after spending a nice afternoon with Bill Coyne, recording a good podcast episode, and having a nice smoke in a nice place! At any rate, I did smoke the Casa Favilli, named after the Mombacho factory in Granada, Nicaragua, which is named after the Italian architect who designed the colonial mansion in which the factory is located. visiting this factory is on my wish list, BTW. I’ve only whisked through Granada, it looks like a beautiful little town. As I mentioned, the wrapper on this cigar is from an experimental crop of broadleaf tobacco grown in Jalapa, with a Jalapa binder and fillers from Jalapa and Condega. The flavors in this are interesting, there’s some sweetness, which one expects from Jalapa, but the Broadleaf wrapper offset it with a little bitterness, not unlike the espresso-like flavors in Connecticut broadleaf. It’s a must-try for Broadleaf fans, I think, and another great cigar from Mombacho, who’s cigars have grown on me lately.

Since it was really cold this week, I took a few nights off, but one night I snuck in a little Mi Querida Firecracker, a Two Guys Smokeshop exclusive from Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust. I understand these will be making a comeback, which is a good thing, because this was a really nice little smoke, distinctly different from the slightly larger Gordita, as it has some Ligero loaded in the front to give it some punch, and slow the smoking time. For a 3½” x 50 cigar, it smokes for a good 45 minutes and the flavor is fantastic. Of course, I’m a fan of the Mi Querida, and it’s ugly (Saka’s opinion) sibling, Umbagog, in any size and shape, but this little bastard has a little extra oomph which sets it apart. I’ve had the good fortune to have smoke several in the Firecracker series, although, oddly, never the original Don Pepin versions, and they all are excellent. One of my favorite cigars of last year was a Fratello Firecracker smoked on the Spanish Steps in Rome! For little cigars, they are yummy!

Last year I featured a lighter from Groovy Guy Gifts, and last week their partner site, Groovy Groomsmen Gifts got in touch with me and wanted me to have a look at one of their cigar related offerings. I found that most of the offerings they had were combination cigar/booze accessories…cigar holders with flasks, that sort of thing, and frankly, I have no real way to evaluate that kind of thing. When one isn’t a drinker, drinking accessories aren’t really of interest, and, come to think of it, at my age, chances of me either being a groomsman, or having them are relatively low. Regardless, I decided to have a look at one of the engraved humidors they offered and see how the fit and finish looked, and how their turn around time was. The item was the “Coolector“, which is a 9″ W x 8 1/2″ D x 2 1/4” H cherry finished humidor. Since I have a relationship with the folks at Prestige Group, who make s this humidor, I was able to get some details, such as this is Spanish Cedar lined, and is used by a lot of companies for promotions.

It’s a pressboard construction and seems to seal well, it closes with a nice enough “woosh”. As you can see in the animated gif I made, and the photo, the engraving is very nice, and they turned it around in about 5 days. I would say if you are in the market for personalized gifts to mark an occasion of reasonable quality, I wouldn’t hesitate to use Groovy Groomsmen Gifts, they have a lot of options and they do a nice job of personalizing and shipping quick. The cigar accessories are sourced from a major importer, and while they’re not Elie Bleu quality humidors, they are perfectly usable. My cabinet humidor is from the same company and I’m quite happy with it.

I also managed to get in a Cornelius and Anthony Meridian Robusto, which is number four of my favorite C&A cigar behind the Cornelius, Señor Esugars and The Gent. Heck, they are all good. I still need to revisit that Mistress, although I get a little queezy thinking about it…soon…anyway, that enough for today, until the next time!

CigarCraig

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Tagged as cigar, cigars, Groovy Groomsmen Gifts, Mi Querida, Mombacho

by CigarCraig | July 1, 2018 · 11:17 am

Mi Querida Firecracker, Island Club, El Borracho, and Chopo™ Cigar Cutter

It’s been a busy news week, and I think it will continue to be busy leading up to the IPCPR show. I assume there will be a lull in the news, at which time many of my colleagues who will be at the show will be pushing loads of content out from the show, so I’ll see what I can do to break up the monotony for you, maybe smoke some old timey cigars or something. I’m sure there will be a lot of great stuff coming from the show, but one recent edition of the Prime-Time podcast with Cigar Coop and Aaron Loomis featured Dion Giolito (Episode 58). Dion doesn’t do a lot of interviews and it’s a damn shame, because he’s articulate, funny, and is a triple threat of perspective as a retailer, manufacturer and consumer. In addition to the excellent interview about the Illusione line, including the re-issue of the One-Off brand, he brought unique points of view to the show’s deliberations segment at the end. It’s recommended listening (or watching, I guess. It’s available in audio and video, I only listen to stuff).

OK, lets rip through some cigar highlights of the week. This week the Mi Querida Firecracker went on sale. The Firecracker is a 2 Guys Smokeshop exclusive, last year’s was the Fratello Firecracker (I smoked one recently on the Spanish Steps in Rome for the irony of it, and it was one of the best cigars I’ve smoked all year because of the setting and it’s a fantastic blend. Before that it was the Cromagnon, also excellent. This year was the year of the Mi Querida Firecracker. Another entertaining podcast is last week’s Cigar Authority show with Steve Saka, loads of laughs, but also great information about the cigar, and how he put some extra filler in the front of the cigar to make a 3½”x 50 cigar burn a little longer. I noticed that the draw seemed a little more snug in the beginning, and I managed to get nearly an hour out of this little beauty, which is slightly stronger than it’s similarly sized Gordito. It’s very rich and has the espresso flavors I love in the Mi Qurida line, which is easily one of my favorite cigars of the last couple of years. There were 500 boxes of these produced, and the majority sold out within the first few days. I wouldn’t be surprised if these make another appearance, like the Cromagnon Firecracker is rumored to be.

Earlier this week I reported on Island Lifestyle Importers entering into a distribution agreement with Ventura Cigars, and I had some pre-release samples of one or their upcoming projects, the Island Club, so I decided it was the right time to smoke one. Island Club is an Ecuador Connecticut wrapped, Nicaraguan cigar that’s priced in the under $5 price range, which is nice, but I find slightly confusing coming from a luxury brand. They will offer it in five sizes, Robusto, Corona Gorda, Toro, Torpedo and Churchill, in bundles of 20, and if it’s a mixed fill cigar, it certainly doesn’t smoke like one. Honestly, it smoked like a much more expensive cigar, I would certainly select it over many more expensive cigars based on performance and flavor, I was that impressed with it. This is a home run for Island Lifestyle, I think, and combined with the distribution muscle of Ventura, this should give the whole brand a lot of visibility, because the Aged Reserve series cigars are all really good (and no matter what trickery I’ve employed, I can never get them to reveal what factory makes them!)

I’ve been using the Screwpop® “Chopo™” a lot recently to give it a good try, and find that it works remarkably well. It makes a nice, clean cut. It takes some work as it’s not spring-loaded, so one has to manually open it the desired amount then quickly snip the cap off the cigar, but it’s a serviceable back-up, for sure. As I’m sitting here thinking about it, unless I were sitting on an assembly line cutting cigar after cigar for hours on end, it’s not like I risk getting a repetitive stress injury from manually opening a cigar cutter once or twice a day, but one can’t argue how nice it is to flip a switch and have your Xikar, Colibri, Tommy Bahama, or similar cutter of choice snap open and be ready to snip your cigar. Anyway, the Chopo™ is a vast improvement over their last iteration of a scissors type cigar cutter, and is a worthy addition to the key ring. I used it to cut an El Borracho Toro last night that I came across buried in the humidor. This was from last year’s IPCPR show, and I’m embarrassed that this bag of cigars from Dapper Cigar Co. got overlooked. Dapper Cigar Co. goes into Saka-esque detail about the blends on their website, the El Borracho is made up of Wrapper: Mexico / San Andrés Natural / San Andrés de los Perros S.A. de C.V.; Binder: Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía / Habano Rosado / Oliva Tobacco Co.; Fillers:, Nicaragua / Esteli / La Joya / Oliva Tobacco Co., Nicaragua / Jalapa / Cofradía / Oliva Tobacco Co., Nicaragua / Condega / gk Relleno / Oliva Tobacco Co.. That’s a lot of detail, and probably more than we need to know. One interesting thing: I think the wrapper comes from the same farm in Mexico that the binder on Saka’s Sobreamesa is from. We’ll see if anyone reading can confirm that, or I’ll go back and review the video from the 2015 IPCPR show where Steve talks about that. Anyway, this was a really tasty cigar! I didn’t find it to be particularly strong, but it was full flavored and had some cocoa but more cedary than cocoa. Very interesting cigar that held my attention. I have a couple more cigars from this company that I’ll try to get to this week. I’ll have to look into this company further.

One honorable mention this week is another pre-release cigar from Epic Cigars. This was a big Solomon with a Brazilian Cubra wrapper that is yet to be named. I’m very much looking forward to seeing these come to market as it was a really tasty cigar, although the wrapper on the sample I smoked was very delicate and the middle portion flaked off a bit. It was still a great cigar, worthy of the Epic name. That’s enough for today, Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as 2 Guys, Chopo, cigar, cigars, Dapper Cigar, El Borracho, Firecracker, Island Lifestyle, Mi Querida, ScrewPop

by CigarCraig | May 20, 2018 · 10:17 am

An Evening at A Little Taste of Cuba and Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Cigars

The last month or so I’ve been resisting going out to cigar shops. I’ve been antisocial, careful with dollars, and busy hunting for the next opportunity. I still get my daily walks in with a cigar, but have been laying low as far as cigar events go. Last night my wife and I took a drive to Princeton, NJ to A Little Taste of Cuba. You may recall last year we visited the A Little Taste of Cuba in New Hope, PA to meet up with Kevin of CigarProp fame. A Little Taste of Cuba is owned by Jorge Armenteros, who is the guy behind Tobacconist University, which is a course that teaches about everything cigar, pipe and tobacco. Jorge describes the Princeton store the flagship store, and it’s a very nice shop. It’s New Jersey, so I had a little sticker shock being used to PA prices, but they offered a Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust sampler with a Sobremesa Short Churchill (which I smoked first), Mi Querida Ancho Corto (smoked second) and Gordito, Todos Las Dias Double Wide Belicoso and an Umbagog Short and Fat. Honestly, I would have bought a handful of Umbagogs and been happy, but the price of the sampler versus the price of the Umbagogs made the sampler a better value. Of course, the two cigars I smoked were fantastic. Unlike the New Hope shop, the Princeton store has a lounge a half a flight up from the store area. The seating was comfortable, and the smoke eaters were noisy, but effective. There were a dozen to 15 people in there smoking over the course of the evening and it wasn’t that bad.

Did I mention Steve Saka and his wife, Cindy, were there? It was a casual non-event event, they were just there to hang out and we decided to run out there and hang out with them. Steve was losing his voice, which made it hard for me to hear all the nuggets of wisdom emanating from him, but a lot of it I’ve heard before. My hearing is impaired, so the combination of the drone from the air cleaner and Steve’s gravely voice made it hard to follow any one conversation, but I was enjoying the crap out of the cigars I was smoking, so it didn’t much matter. It’s always great to spend a little time with Steve and Cindy, terrific people. I also ran into my old friend Alex Martinez, who I met back in 2013 when I was up in the Lyndhurst, NJ area for a few days. Always nice to reconnect.

Two more quick little things n my mind: First, we were out at a fabric store yesterday with one of our granddaughters getting her some patterns and fabric for projects, and I came across some interesting fabric. Fabric stores make me anxious since childhood, not sure why, maybe it’s the overwhelming variety, or the cluttered feeling, but I’m uncomfortable in them. So I wasn’t just pacing around with my hands in my pockets, my wife told me to go look for some cigar fabric, and don’t you know I found some, and bought the whole bolt! Oddly, there’s a billion patterns for women’s clothes, but only like seven for men. I guess we buy our clothes as opposed to making them! Second, I once again found that smoking a strong cigar late at night gives me some weird-ass dreams and isn’t good for my sleep! No cigars after 9pm, I guess! Crazy!