Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust – IPCPR 2017

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust made its first IPCPR appearance in 2015 and has slowly, meticulously expanded to become one of the major players amongst craft/boutique cigar brands. When first launched, the portfolio consisted of one cigar—Sobremesa. In 2016, the brand displayed their second release—Mi Querida—along with a promise of four other unique projects in the pipeline (which were not on display but were present at the show). This might’ve seemed a bit out of character for brand owner Steve Saka and his scrupulous, calculated business tactics, but with the uncertainty of the cigar climate due to FDA regulations, these four brands (along with an additional, fifth cigar) made their way to market in order to beat the August 8th deadline.

In the year following, two of these cigars were formally introduced, releasing the brand’s most affordable cigar (Umbagog) and the brand’s most luxury-priced cigar (Muestra de Saka) in the spring of 2017. And at IPCPR 2017, Dunbarton turned their focus towards another of these five formerly hinted blends—Todos Las Dias—which marks the third core-line cigar, complimenting the brand’s prior releases of Sobremesa and Mi Querida.

As usual, Dunbarton keeps their booth simple and straight to the point. The booth is virtually the same as seen at IPCPR 2016, displaying a large, back-lit banner of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust seal (the same that is found on their cigar boxes) and a conference-room-stye table in the booth’s center. Steve is open and honest, happy to “talk shop” in great detail with retailers that visit the booth and this is one of the biggest draws to Dunbarton’s setup. The most noticeable change is the inclusion of Saka’s “Sasquatch” imagery that has been accompanying recent “Sasquatch Sighting” events held by Steve Saka and Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. A large bust of the Sasquatch now sits atop the Dunbarton meeting table, complete with a Mi Querida cigar in its mouth. Stickers of the new Sasquatch marketing were also available.

Mi Querida

In a similar fashion to the size extensions introduced to Sobremesa a year after its launch, Dunbarton showcased two new sizes to Mi Querida at IPCPR 2017. These new sizes were actually announced at 2016’s trade show, listed as a future release on the price sheet. Operating at both ends of the size spectrum, Mi Querida has been given its smallest (4″ x 48 Gordita) and largest (7″ x 64 Más Sucia) sizes in the expanded lineup. While Gordita is said to have a similar body/profile to the rest of the Mi Querida cigars, the Más Sucia (translating to “more dirty”) has been slightly tweaked to make it the strongest cigar in the Mi Querida lineup.

The new sizes are now available from select retailers.

Muestra de Saka Nacatamale

Shortly before the trade show began, Dunbarton announced their followup release to the Muestra de Saka Exclusivo—the brand’s first “limited” cigar. In a style similar to what Steve pioneered with Liga Privada’s Único Serie in his time working as Drew Estate’s CEO, the Muestra de Saka series showcases unique blends that are specifically tailored to fit their ideal vitola. For Nacatamale, Steve has challenged himself to blend an “old farm” style liga, which uses tobaccos from only a single farm. In this style, complexity is created by strategic placement of the cigar’s bunch and precise leaf processing and fermentation techniques. With the exception of the wrapper, Muestra de Saka Nacatamale’s tobaccos derive from a single farm in Jalapa, Nicaragua. Steve mentions that it is common to find a wrapper from a different region/country on old-school blends of this nature; as such, Nacatamale incorporates an Ecuadorian Habano leaf for this portion of the blend.

Muestra de Saka Nacatamale is packaged in individual coffins, as with the original Exclusivo release. Despite using a smaller, corona gorda-style vitola—as compared to the toro size of the original Exclusivo—Nacatamale’s price has increased by one dollar. The cigars are limited, though not necessarily tied to a one-time offering, with 2,250 boxes being produced for 2017 (around 600 more boxes compared to Exclusivo).

Todos Las Dias

Todos Las Dias is made more in the style of Dunbarton’s core-line products (Sobremesa, Mi Querida), with the company adding one line per year since launching in 2015. The cigars showcase a Nicaraguan puro blend, moving production back from the NACSA factory (used on Mi Querida) to Joya de Nicaragua, which has produced all other Dunbarton blends (save for the Umbagog, which is based on the Mi Querida blend and also made at NACSA). Most notably, Todos Las Dias is billed as Dunbarton’s strongest blend to date, offering a profile that is intended to start medium-bodied and build to a high-octane “nicotine bomb” by the cigar’s eventual finale. Todos Las Dias utilizes tobaccos of Estelí and Jalapa in the filler, with a Cuban-seed and sun-grown, Nicaraguan wrapper.

Reportedly, the cigar’s name is meant to show Steve’s self-deprecating humor, acknowledging his “Spanglish” usage of the term “Todos Los Dias,” which translates to “every day” — Steve admits he’s mispronounced the term for years.

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