A Glimpse Into My Cigar Adventures!

SobremesaTag Archives

Sobremesa Brulee Blue, Platinum Nova, HVC Black Friday and Triqui Traca Cigars

We had a really low key Thanksgiving. We didn’t have a big meal, just the immediate family hanging out around the house. We actually ordered sandwiches from Wawa for dinner! It was much more relaxing than the stress of preparing a big meal and cleaning it all up in all honesty! I, like many days, treated myself to some great cigars. I realized that I haven’t written anything about the Sobremesa Brulee Blue yet, so I figured it was about time.
This is a 6 ¼” x 46 lonsdale cigar with a pigtail cap. I used a cutter because I’ve evolved to use tools, I’m not an animal. Also, even though Saka sent me this cigar, it’s a $15 cigar and I’m not risking screwing it up by manhandling it.… Continue reading »

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Saka’s Taste For U’rself !!! Sobremesa Brulee Cigar Sampler Recap

For those who haven’t been following this particular cigar industry soap opera, let me set the scene for you. First, as the card included in this five cigar sampler explains, these are five Sobremesa Brulee toros. Soon after they came out there were allegations that they were sweet capped, much like a Baccarat, or many of the Acid cigars. This was flatly denied, and explained away as a natural sweetness in the Connecticut shade wrapper. I smoked an early version of the Brulee and never got the saccharine sweetness that I associate with a sweetened cap. If you go back to my very last podcast episode, Steve talks about the Brulee, I think it’s pretty interesting. So Steve was bored during the COVID pandemic, he decided to have some fun and put together this Brulee sampler and mess everyone with the whole sweet vs. not debate.… Continue reading »

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News: Dunbarton Tobacco And Trust Debuts Sobremesa Brûlée at IPCPR

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.”… Continue reading »

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Sobremesa Brulee and an Elegante En Cedro ReRun

Busy day ahead, so I’m going to give a quick rundown on a new and exciting cigar I smoked this week and re-run a piece I wrote for Prime Living Magazine back in 2016 which doesn’t appear to be on their website any longer. I haven’t been asked to write a Cigar Notes column for them for quite a while, and I think that’s because they haven’t published an issue in quite a while! It’s a shame, that was a fun gig, and I’m proud to have contributed articles to 21 issues of that magazine. How many other bloggers can say that? Anyway, A couple weeks back when I  hung out with Steve Saka at Famous Smoke Shop I got a sample of his new creation, the Sobremesa Brulee. This is his entry into the Connecticut shade market. Steve goes into great detail in the CigarCrag Podcast episode, so please give that a listen, but his intention was to make a Connecticut shade cigar that was like the cigars he remembered from the 80s and 90s. I smoked the Brulee this week and I was thoroughly impressed (shocker!). It just might have been my father’s Connecticut! It has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper, so in that way it differs from the COnnecticut shade cigars of 30 years ago, but it was smooth with a nutty/grassy flavor, but still had the richness one expects a cigar with the Sobremesa name to have. This is going to be a hit, I nubbed it, despite Steve’s concerns about the nubability, and, yes, it did start to turn a little beyond the band as he said, but it was a flavorful and satisfying cigar that I will add to my selection when it becomes available.… Continue reading »

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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 Jamison 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.… Continue reading »

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