Cigar Review: Sobremesa by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust

• Vitola: Cervantes Fino
• 6.25” x 46 ring gauge
• MSRP $11.45
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

It was about two and a half years ago that I had the opportunity to visit Drew Estate with a group of bloggers. We saw the operations and fields, and got to meet some of the great people behind the brand, including company President, Steve Saka. Saka impressed me as being very well-read and knowledgeable on the subject of tobacco, and imparted a great deal of his collected wisdom to us on that trip. Then just a couple months later, he announced his retirement from the company. At the time I remember him saying that his future plans involved a bit of travel and fishing and relaxation, but we all suspected that once any non-compete agreement time-period was completed, we would see him back in the cigar industry.

That time came around this past summer when Steve and Cindy Saka announced the formation of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, as well as the new company’s first blend: Sobremesa. Expectations ran high to see Steve at the show and try out the new blend, so when I sat down with him there to talk about an order for Burns, I was a little surprised when he handed me a Ratzilla. “No samples…they aren’t ready,” he explained. “But you’re smoking one!” I said. “Yes, but I know how they are going to taste when they are ready, so this doesn’t count.” he replied.

We had to wait almost an additional 4 months before the blend had finished, the cigars were boxed and shipped…then made their way to Chattanooga. I have to say…it was worth the wait…but more on that toward the end of the review.

This new blend from DTT is made in the Joya de Nicaragua factory in Nicaragua, a factory Saka is very familiar with since Drew Estate distributes all of Joya’s North American production. “Sobremesa” roughly means “over the table” and is a reference to time spent lingering at the dinner table talking with friends and family after a meal is done.

Whereas some company’s try to keep their blend a “trade secret,” Steve went to fairly intense detail in describing what’s in Sobremesa. The filler includes USA Pennsylvania Broadleaf Ligero and 4 (count ‘em!!!) types of Nicaragua leaf: GK Condega C-SG Seco, Pueblo Nuevo Criollo Visa, La Joya Esteli C-98 Viso, and ASP Esteli Hybrid Ligero. Then a Matacapan (Mexican) Negro de Temporal binder and La Meca Ecuador Habano Grade 1 Dark Rosado wrapper is applied over it all.

The initial release consisted of 5 vitolas (a 6th Belicoso size was planned and canceled and replaced with something similar). We got 4 of them in at Burns last week and I was able to smoke the Corona Grande and Cervantes Fino in the days after…then I returned and bought a couple more Cervantes Finos because I liked them so much. So at this point, I’ve smoked this blend 3 times in a week, including twice in the size I am reviewing today. I bought all my cigars at Burns. (The initial shipment was only large enough to supply the locals in the B&M, but I believe we will eventually receive enough to offer it online as well.) Some background for this section was gleaned from Will Cooper’s wonderfully detailed news story, which you can read HERE.

Prelight

I’ll start waaaay pre-light today…back when Dunbarton started sending out materials in advance of shipment of the cigars. In one of the most retailer-friendly acts I’ve ever seen, they sent PDFs with the SKUs and barcodes on them to all retailers who had bought the blend, so they could have it set up in their systems before the cigars arrived (if they wanted to). Each pre-barcoded cigar also has the blend name, size name and vitola dimensions printed on it, so it doesn’t require any extra barcoding for those of us at stores that use modern POS systems and doesn’t require memorizing all the exact dimensions for those of us that have 1,500 or more facings already to try to memorize. As a tobacco retailer, I extend DTT a big “THANK YOU!” for making our jobs easier…and I would like to encourage all the other cigar companies out there (especially those who misguidedly believe that cigars shouldn’t be shipped individually cellophaned) to follow their example.

So after removing the cellophane, I was greeted by a wrapper leaf that was so dark I had to double…even triple!…check that it was truly supposed to be “Rosado.” “Dark Rosado” to be exact, so “Rosado Oscuro” or “Oscuro Rosado” maybe? The bands are gold and dark brown with hefty amounts of embossing that is very deep and gives a rich look to the work. The brown is almost exactly the same color as the wrapper leaf so it almost appears like the gold foil is sitting directly on the wrapper in places.

The wrapper itself is oily and velvety to the touch, with a few moderate-sized veins. It had notes of earth and leather to the nose, while the foot had a more pungent earthiness and a mild and subtle sweetness. Feeling along the length of the cigar, there was a little bit of give to it…just enough, really. On a side note, one of my customers has been buying a larger size (perhaps El Americano or Robusto Largo) and found that several of them are tightly packed and have a slightly-too-tight draw; we both agreed that samples of this Cervantes Fino vitola did not have the same hardness to the squeeze test. The cold draw had semi-sweet chocolate and raisin notes along with a touches of leather and earth.

Flavor

I lit the end with my single-flame lighter and without even taking a puff, the end started smoldering with a lot of intensity…something in the blend apparently has a lot of oil in it. The Sobremesa’s smoke had a fairly oily mouth-feel with a medium-plus body. I got dried fruit and dark roast coffee notes right off the bat, with some leathery and earthy undertones. The retrohale had cocoa powder and brown pepper heat. As I worked my way through the first third, the flavors on the palate became a little more chocolatey and I got a bit of red pepper toward the back of the mouth. The pepper on the nose faded somewhat.

During the second third, the Sobremesa settled in to a nice mellow, but complex, profile with notes of earth, leather and chocolate brownie…yeah, I just said that. This blend really is sweeter than a predominantly Nicaraguan blend has any reason to be. I’m guessing the Ecuadorian wrapper and Mexican binder have a lot to do with that, with the addition of the Pennsylvania Broadleaf adding just a touch more.

The Sobremesa finished up just as pleasing to the palate as it started out. I got increasingly sweet chocolate notes, more coffee, and a solid earthy base. The pepper spice never really came back, but everything else was so good, I never really missed it.

Construction

Every one of these I’ve smoked has had a very good draw, even enough burn line and an ash that wasn’t flaky.

Value

The “value proposition” always gets tougher on cigars that are above the $10 mark, but the call isn’t tough on this one: it’s absolutely worth it.

Conclusions

People have said this was the “most anticipated cigar of 2015” and I would add that that was mostly because of the lack of samples at the show. The lack of pre-release samples and reputation of Steve Saka combined to create a hype bubble around the Sobremesa that seemed to take the oxygen out of the room for many other releases. Here’s the good news…it was definitely worth the wait and every bit of the hype. Sobremesa is a fantastically complex smoke that shows the time and care taken in its creation. I had been very ready to easily crown another stick as my “Cigar of the Year” for 2015, but this one has me second-guessing that choice in a big way. Of the two vitolas I’ve smoked, I really liked the Corona Grande, but I absolutely love the Cervantes Fino. I can see a box purchase in my future when supplies aren’t quite so constrained.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 10/10