Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo | Cigar Review

Wrapper: La Meca Ecuador Habano #1 Rosado
Binder: Matacapan Negro de Temporal
Filler: Nicaraguan Gk Condega C-SG Seco, Nicaraguan Pueblo Nuevo Criollo Viso, Nicaraguan La Joya Esteli C-98 Viso, Nicaraguan ASP Esteli Hybrid Ligero, USA Lancaster County Broadleaf Ligero
Size: 5.25 x 52 “Robusto Largo”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $13.00 MSRP ($11.45 @ Cigar Federation)

Today we take a look at the new Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo.
Many thanks to Miguel Castro for the samples.
All I have to say, after reading the ingredients to this stew, it better be good…really good.

BACKGROUND:
This is the first release from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. It is ex-Drew Estate executive Steve Saka’s first outing with his new company.
Factory: Joya de Nicaragua S.A. Esteli, Nicaragua

PHOTO COURTESY OF CIGAR-COOP.COM Thank you sir!

From the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust web site:
“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.

“Sobremesa will be continuously crafted, however the pace of its production is being dictated by the tobaccos themselves and therefore will be limited in its availability via Select Purveyors for the foreseeable future.”

AND:
“Our master blender and catador de puros, Steve Saka, demands the most exact standards be honored at all times. Regarded as a cigar expert throughout the industry, he is credited as being an experienced cigar 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 fulfilled a lifelong dream by establishing the family held Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust to craft cigars without any compromises.”

According to Cigar Coop:
“Saka said that the orders for Sobremesa that because the company recieved an overwhelming amount of orders, they will not be able to fulfill the existing orders. Instead, retailers will receive an equitable share of their first order and the balance will be fulfilled asap. Saka says the company will keep to its plan to make 1,000 cigars per month. Saka said, “my plan was always to make ~1,000 boxes a month until the second capa pilon was fully fermented and ready. DTT is not deviating from this plan.”

DESCRIPTION:
A beautiful cigar. An oily, very dark coffee bean color. Tight seams. Few veins. An impeccable triple cap. Fairly solid but I found a couple soft spots on each cigar.
The wrapper is silky smooth.
The cigar band, both main and footer, are super classy. The brown background is exactly the color of the wrapper.

SIZES AND PRICING:
Company founder Steve Saka announced that the 6 x 52 Belicoso Largo will be replaced by a 6 x 54 Torpedo Tiempo.
Corona Grande 5.25 x 44 $9.95 MSRP
Cervantes Fino 6.25 x 46 $11.45 MSRP
Robusto Largo 5.25 x 52 $13.00
El Americano 6.00 x 52 $12.45 MSRP
Torpedo Tiempo 6.00 x 54 Torpedo $13.00 MSRP
Gran Imperiales 7.00 x 54 $13.45 MSRP
Comes in boxes of 25.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell sweet cinnamon, bittersweet cocoa, spice, light floral notes, and espresso.
From the clipped cap, I smell peppermint, spice, chocolate, cedar, licorice root, floral notes, cinnamon, and espresso.
The cold draw presents flavors of dark cocoa, mint, spice, creaminess, cedar, sweetness, fruit, and baking spices.

FIRST THIRD:
The draw is a dream.
First flavors shoot out of a cannon: Red hot pepper that burns all the hairs in my nostrils, big dose of chocolate, caramel, black cherry, sweet fruitiness, cappuccino, cedar, malt…lots of it, and black walnut.
Whew. Now this is how a $13.00 cigar should start. With a bang!

You pay double digits for a good cigar; you have the right to expect spectacular moments from the very beginning. None of this last third sweet spot bullshit.
So far, I’m very impressed with the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo. Kudos Steve Saka. I mean no disrespect, but I can’t think of a single DE blend as good as this one.

I get a minor run and touch it up immediately. No biggie. Just want the photos to look pretty.
The malts: Chocolate Malt, Caramel Malt, Chocolate Rye Malt, Coffee Malt, and Marris Otter Malt. (See Malt Chart).
The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo becomes super complex after only one inch burned. The balance is perfect. And the finish is long and gooey.
Smooth. A one word description.
Strength is medium+ body.

The spice settles down. I would have preferred it to stay strong but that’s just me. I’m sure that in the last third, it will rise like a Phoenix.
And the peppermint candy element appears as a flavor for the first time. It is subtle and nuanced but it’s there.
This is a nice, slow smoke. I’ve smoked some cigars lately that were not packed with enough filler and they blew through the cigar experience. Not the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo. No my babies. The stick is taking its own sweet time and I’m digging a pony.
“I dig a pony
Well, you can celebrate anything you want.
Yes, you can celebrate anything you want.”
Thank you John Lennon for describing my reaction to this blend better than I.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 35 minutes.
Strength hits medium/full.

Root beer. That’s the ticket: vanilla, wintergreen, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, acacia, anise, molasses, cinnamon, and honey. In one form or another, this is what I’ve been describing along with chocolate, creaminess, spice, and cappuccino. The mint wasn’t peppermint, it was wintergreen.

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo is a true, exceptional treat for the senses. It attacks on all fronts. There is a frontal assault to the nasal passages. There is a rear attack to the palate. And a double flank to the brain.
I believe Cigar Federation has them but based on how Saka is manufacturing the cigars in small quantities each month….well, Surprise! They have them in stock. I didn’t check every size and every quantity but there are definitely cigars for the picking.

The complexity ratchets up. The flavor profile is climbing Mount Everest and is already at the 29,000 foot mark. Only 29’-0 to go to reach the summit.

Once again, I am duly impressed. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. I knew they weren’t cheap. $10.00-$13.50. Ouch. I’m an old dog having trouble doing new tricks. How long ago was an $8 cigar expensive?

Now, no cigars coming out of the 2015 IPCPR trade show cost less than $10.00. And way too many are $14.00 and up. The world has gone mad. There is no way that someone like me living on Social Security, old and decrepit, can afford a steady diet of $14.00 cigars. If it wasn’t for the kind, generous, and lovely Miguel Castro, I never would have had the opportunity to review this cigar; let alone smoke one.

The halfway point is upon me and it’s been a slow roll. Nice.
Smoke time is 50 minutes.

Construction is top notch and no more issues with the burn line. Just a little wavy here and there.
The spice is just about dead and gone. A shame. I hope it is resurrected in the last third.

But the other flavors of this root beer float are screaming laughter like a sea of swarming simbas.
The finish is un-godly long and chewy.

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo is one of those cigars that just pours smoke like a Pittsburgh chimney and would make for a great photo if I was quick on my feet…but I’m not. Take my word. I haven’t lied to you yet. Maybe that’s why all the manufacturers hate me. LOL.
Transitions come fast and furious. It is nearly impossible to keep up with them and even with this dreaded illness, I can still type 40wpm. Thank you Mama Kohn for making me take typing in high school. How humiliating.

I love the little details like the cigar band just peeling off easily. Don’t you just get really annoyed when you start ripping to shreds a cigar band because it won’t comply?

A huge shift has occurred.
First, strength has moved to full body.
Second, the spice has come back with extreme prejudice.
Third, the flavors explode and I need a kitchen towel to wipe them off my face.
The root beer analogy still holds firm.

Once again: Chocolate, creaminess, malts, cappuccino, vanilla, wintergreen, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, acacia, anise, molasses, cinnamon, and honey. This description just nails my Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo experience.

Oh man. Sweet Spot 10.0!
The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo is about as perfect as a cigar can be. I have no criticisms. I will be rating this cigar the highest I’ve ever done.

Saka is a mad scientist. His brain should be studied after he dies. Or before, depending on his wishes.
Flavors have taken a rocket to the moon, Alice.

I used to go to the A&W drive in stands. They would serve you an icy, frosted mug of root beer and it made a summer day perfect.
I’m at the A&W drive in right now. Only thing missing is the taquitos with guacamole.

Creamy, full of malts, an exceptional coffee presence, so chocolaty, and that ever lovin’ root beer’s ingredients.
And the best part…no nicotine. (Have I jinxed it?)
This has to be the smoothest full body smoke ever.
“Kashmir” by Zep is playing. So nice. Good radio day. Music brings out the best of me while reviewing.
I don’t know how reviewers that smoke first and then take notes do it? If I can’t do it simultaneously, I lose the passion.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is one hour 45 minutes.
The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo is phenomenal. But I guess all my fawning over it has already given you that impression.
Miguel sent me three. I smoked one a week ago. Not ready. But this morning? Holy shit!

Clearly, a New Breed cigar blend. It doesn’t need months of humi time. It is good to go in just 2-3 weeks.
I can’t begin to fathom what is up Saka’s sleeve for his next release.

This is extraordinary, journeyman, master blending.
The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Robusto Largo is a real treat.

I Google to see who is carrying it online besides Cigar Federation: Egars.com, Jack Schwartz Importer, Smoke Inn, and Cigars International. That’s all I could find. I’m sure there is a list of B & M’s on the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust web site.
But CF is probably your best bet; especially with the 10% discount for members.

The flavor profile is overwhelming. I’m totally distracted. I want to stop typing and just enjoy.
With only 1000 cigars per month to be released, snagging some will be tricky. But at least CF has an app that allows you to be notified when they are in stock again.

Get some. Send your wife out to the streets to make some dough to buy them. Do whatever it takes. Whether it’s a single, a 5 pack, or a 25 count box, be patient and you will be rewarded. CF has a few sizes left. Mostly in singles which is just fine as they charge for a single the same price as a box price.

RATING: 98