Tag Archives: Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust

by | November 17, 2021 · 6:20 pm

Stillwell Star Bayou No. 32 and Navy No. 1056 Cigars

This is the second and final installment in my series of posts recapping my experiences smoking the Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Stillwell Star cigars that I purchased at the launch event in South Carolina a week and a half ago. I went into this exercise with an open mind, but with very little experience with pipe tobacco.  I’ve smoked a pipe in a the past, but I always found that there was too much work involved and I didn’t get enough satisfaction from it commensurate with the effort involved, the preparation, the cleaning, the general fiddling around involved in smoking the pipe. I’m much happier to just light a cigar and put it down when I’m done and be finished with it. I find that far more relaxing. Of course, that’s just me, there seem to be dozens of people who enjoy smoking a pipe. I even saw Saka smoking a pipe at the event, first time in the twenty-some odd years I’ve known him that I’ve witnessed that. Anyway, Monday I smoked the Bayou No. 32, which I was quite looking forward to. This cigar, like all of them, has the Ecuador Habano Oscuro wrapper and San Andrés cultivo tonto binder with Nicaraguan fillers. It also has a blend of Bright, Red Virginia and St. James Parish Perique pipe tobaccos. This was another one that struck me as more cigar than pipe, which I suppose is the point. This one started out with some pepper spice, a more unique pepper than one usually finds in a cigar. As the cigar progressed, the spice became a little mouth coating, perhaps cloying is a word one might use. It was interesting, a different texture than normal in a cigar. I’ve smoked cigars with Perique in the blend before, but none have been this unique. This was an interesting smoke.

 

Finally, there’s the Navy No. 1056. This one has Red and Golden Virginias,  “Naval Rations,” Orientals and Latakia pipe tobaccos blended with dark air-cured black cigar leaves in the filler. As with the other three, I polled others on the room note, and on all but the first one I got “cigar”. I suppose it would be different if people were familiar with pipe aromas, sadly we are not. This was another good tasting cigar. It had a smokey sweetness, throughout, very interesting. It was medium bodied, like the other three, and very smooth.  All four samples burned perfectly, which was interesting, I wasn’t sure how the different tobaccos were going to burn, but I suppose Steve wasn’t going to put something out that isn’t going to work right. I found smoking these four cigars to be an interesting exercise, however, these aren’t going to be regular rotation cigars for me, I doubt I’ll even go back to them  to be honest. As good as they are, they didn’t excite me as much as the other cigars in the Dunbarton portfolio. I’m glad I smoked them, but I’m happier with a Mi Querida, Sin Compromiso or Sobremesa any day of the week. Of course, that’s just me, your mileage may vary.  

 

That’s al for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

  

Share

2 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | November 14, 2021 · 10:31 am

Stillwell Star Aromatic No. 1 and English No. 27 Cigars

I wanted to get through all four of the new Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Stillwell Star cigars, but stuff came up and I didn’t have time to get the other two in.  I will smoke the Bayou No. 32 and Navy No. 1056 this week and write about them in a separate post. Stretches things out a little anyway. I picked up one each of these at the launch event at Low Country Pipe and Cigars last week in South Carolina, long drive for four cigars! The company was good though! As I mentioned in last weeks post, I didn’t want to smoke any of them there in a room full of various aromas, choosing the solitude of my enclosed porch. As is my way, I arranged them numerically, doing otherwise would be an abomination. So I started out with the Aromatic No. 1. Zev Kaminetsky, the local broker and an old friend, told me at the event that this was his favorite (or the only one he’d tried, I can’t remember), and it was reminiscent of another cigar that used pipe tobaccos in the blend. I knew what cigars he was referring to, but I can’t agree. While the Aromatic No. 1 was heavily and distinctly “pipey”, it wasn’t spicy like the other one. My dentist when I was a kid smoked a pipe, he was old school, you walked into his office, he was a one man show, he put his pipe down, cleaned your teeth, filled your cavities, lit his pipe and wrote up you bill at his desk. Those were the days. This reminded me of the Captain Black he used to smoke in his office. Of course, the tobaccos in this blend are the same that’s used in Captain Black, Black Cavendish, Golden Virginia and Burly pipe tobaccos as well as Nicaraguan in the filler, with an Ecuador Habano oscuro wrapper over a Mexican San Andrés binder (from the wrapper leaves used on the Sin Compromiso). I wasn’t a fan, although it either grew on me, mellowed, or I got used to it. Starting out with this one caused me some concern.

 

Yesterday afternoon, after giving the chicken habitat a thorough cleaning out, and then showering so as not to compromise my senses, olfactory and otherwise, I delved into the next Stillwell numerically, the English No 27.  This one is a blend of Turkish and Burly pipe tobaccos, as well as Latakia from Cyprus, again with Nicaraguan in the filler, and the same wrapper and binder combination. I’d probably benefit by sticky my schnoz in some of these tobaccos to better understand what I’m tasting, because I’m rather ignorant in the ways of the pipe. This one was much more cigar-like, even third party observers when polled, commented that the room note was “cigar”, as opposed to “pipe” the night before. I found it on the woody side, with some occasional mellow sweet spice. It was pretty good, and allayed my fears from the No. 1. I suppose I was expecting more flavor from the Latakia, based solely on reputation. I am looking forward to smoking the final two, especially the next in line, the Bayou No. 32, as I actually have smoked Perique in a cigar blend. I’m not sure what to expect from the Navy.  I’ll know in a few days. 

Just a quick gripe.  Have you ever avoided something for personal reasons? Then someone, probably not even knowingly, gives you something from that entity? Perhaps it’s something that you don’t even know is from that entity, and you consume it. when you find out where it’s from, do you feel a little betrayed? Duped? I’ve kinda, sorta had this happen twice in two different ways with the same entity this week. I’ll probably just let it slide, but you know, the same way that some people stop doing business with some people for personal reasons, other people might stop doing business with those people for the same reasons, and those people have to realize that. Lots of ambiguity and between the lines stuff here, I know, I’m wishy washy about displaying my politics here. I will come out and say that I think that I think that Privada/ LCA is bad for the cigar industry with their childish branding, and I think their “hacking” thing was a publicity stunt. Also, implicating cigar media and retailers is childish. If you hate your website, it’s yours to change, bud. 

That’s more than enough from me today, until the next time, 

CigarCraig

Share

3 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | November 7, 2021 · 6:46 am

Stillwell Star Release Event at Low Country Pipe and Cigars

Friday was the official release event for the long awaited and anticipated release of Steve Saka’s Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Stillwell Star cigars, a foursome of cigars blended with pipe tobacco. The release was held at Low Country Pipe and Cigar, in Little River, South Carolina, which is owned by the same company that owns Cornell & Diehl, the pipe tobacco company that worked with Steve on the blends of the Stillwell Star cigars. Now we know how a shop in South Carolina and their website, SmokingPipes.com, ended up with the exclusive launch. Of course, an event of this magnitude deserved cigar media coverage, and Bob The Cigar Guy, and his son The Chief, popular Youtubers, were on hand. I popped in from Pennsylvania to provide support on the written word side of things since nobody else seemed to be stepping up 😁 .  A little backstory: my wife mentioned this event, and wanting to get away for the weekend, and I need to take vacation days, so I made quick work of arranging the day off. As it turns out, the weather in South Carolina this weekend wasn’t much better than in PA, but it was still a weekend away! So I called Tim at Lake Country and bought two tickets for the event (event packs including four DTT cigars). We got up early Friday morning and drove nine hours to a cigar event, a new personal record. When we walked in I think Steve had a WTF look on his face, and I think Zev Kaminetsky, who is brokering DTT in the south now, was similarly surprised.  A few words about the shop. Now, I’m not a pipe guy, too much fiddling around for me, I just want to smoke it and put it down, but this place had a huge selection of pipes and pipe tobacco. I took a stroll through the humidor as well and it was adequately appointed with a nice balance of legacy brands and boutiques. I even saw one brand I was unfamiliar with, and I would have explored that further on a day that wasn’t so busy. But this was a Dunbarton event, and it was about the Stillwell Star.

 

We were welcomed warmly by the staff, who was friendly and attentive, clearly all the folks working here love what they do and do it well. They had a company on site making pizzas that were really good, $10 for a pie that my wife and I split, I’d say it was a 14″ pie, and they were making tons of them, they had an oven right there in the parking lot. I hardly ever eat at cigar events, but after a 9 hour drive I was ready for dinner, so I ate, and it was good. after 35 years, my wife knows my pizza preferences, so my half had sausage, pepperoni, hamburger and bacon. I like a little meat on my pizza. It was mid-bite when Bob the Cigar Guy came up and introduced himself to me. He’s a hoot. Nice guy, has me confused with someone else. I don’t deserve the praise he heaped upon me, but a likable fellow! I enjoyed talking to him and his son over the course of the event.  I picked up one each of  the Stillwell blends, because they are pricey and, me not being a pipe smoker I really don’t have a frame of reference for the specific pipe tobacco blends, I just want to sample each one, which I shall do on a fresh palate in the comfort of my home lounge (enclosed porch). I did enjoy a Sin Compromiso and a Mi Querida over the course of the evening, while hanging out in the shop, wandering from conversation to conversation, and listening to Saka educate us all on a number of topics, mostly tobacco related. He also autographed various items. This was a great launch event, in a great shop with a great staff. It’s always fun to hang with Saka.  I’m just disappointed Dave Lafferty wasn’t there.

 

Saturday turned out to be a gloomy, windy day, with weather much like we left behind in PA, so we stopped in to Nick’s Cigar World, which was, conveniently, a short walk from our hotel. This turned out to be a nice cigar bar adjacent to a well stocked shop. The cigars were kept in a labyrinth of counter humidors, arranged alphabetically by brand, more or less. Not really needing anything, I picked up a Fuente Rare Pink Signature and a CAO Cameroon Toro and we hung out in the lounge and enjoyed the afternoon. The staff there was attentive, and it was much like being in any lounge, with patrons watching football and busting balls. The staff was friendly and attentive. It was certainly a very nice experience. The cigar was OK, it wasn’t like the L’Anniversaire I remember from the old CAO days (I still have a tubed Churchill from about ’03 I think), but it was satisfying. Overall we had a nice, lazy day in North Myrtle Beach, despite the weather. Driving home today.

 

That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig 

Share

3 Comments

Filed under Events, Review, Stores

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

by | September 6, 2020 · 11:12 am

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 Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust 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. I’ll post my findings below, but I have a few things to get off my chest first. I was questioned as to whether Steve was making me smoke these cigars, and I said that Steve doesn’t make me do anything, but I need to back off of that statement. After thinking about it, Saka is a master manipulator. A few examples: Steve and I have known one another for a long time, and Steve will tell people, unsolicited, that I am a cheap bastard (I have this on good authority). It’s true, of course, I admit it. That being said, when Steve releases a new cigar, I go out and buy a few. I know that if I see Steve, he’ll hand me a few, and if I were to asked him, he’d send me some, but I never ask for anything as a general policy. So he puts out $15-$20 cigars and, like a sucker, I go and buy a few because I want to smoke them, and partly because I don’t want Steve to think I’m a cheap bastard. Another way he manipulated me, in this case, is that when I buy a handful of cigars, I generally smoke a couple and set the rest aside for a while. Under normal circumstances, if I buy a fiver of cigars, especially dropping the coin I did on this fiver (I bought local, but with taxes and shipping it hit my wallet harder than my cheap ass prefers), I’d stretch out the purchase over the better part of a year, I bet. So, with a deadline posted, and an admittedly self imposed deadline for writing a blog post, I smoked the five cigars in four days. I rarely smoke the same cigar twice in a row, let alone five in a row. Can you see how I feel manipulated? It is a genius sales move, although I doubt the margins are great on Saka’s end (I’m sure Steve would whine about what a pain in the ass, money losing venture it was, but he’d be an idiot if this were the case, of course it has to have profit built in or he wouldn’t do it! Then again, there’s the three foot Sakaquatch statues, so maybe he does just do stupid shit  😆  ).  All that being said, spoiler alert, here’s my analysis of the five cigars:

 

All five cigars were the excellent Sobremesa Brulee 6″ x 52 Toro with an Ecuador Connecticut Shade Wrapper over a San Andrés binder and Nicaraguan fillers. This is, literally, meant to be your grandfather’s Connecticut shade cigar, a throwback to shade cigars from the ’80s and early ’90s. It’s got some body, it’s milder, but not mild, it’s great with a cup of coffee, like I’m enjoying the !!! right now as I write this. My process was to fellate (hat tip to Jon Carney for bringing this term into the cigar lexicon!) the head of each cigar to determine the presence of the sweetener used on the cap. Honestly, I could have cheated and put the cigars away after this, but that would have been gross, and I couldn’t have lived with myself. For the seven or eight readers who got this far, I soldiered on and smoked five great cigars back to back. I took that hit for you, faithful readers. Needless to say, I smoked them in order, I’m not an animal. The S – no sweet cap. The T – Sweet cap. The F – a slight hint of sweet, if this one is sweetened, then the T is the double sweet. The U and !!!, no sweet cap. So to me, three were straight up Brulee, maybe even four. I can only definitely say the T was sweetened, and I kinda liked it, to be honest, it was a nice change of pace, to the point where I was a little disappointed that none of the others ended up being sweetend.

 

One thing I did confirm is that there’s a reason I don’t smoke the same cigars back to back like this. No matter how great the cigar is, I really need the variety, and I’m looking forward to smoking something completely different later today, although it was a little bit liberating not having to make a choice. I look forward to Steve’s reveal to see how far off I was on my analysis.

 

That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig (word count 887 😀)

Share

8 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | August 30, 2020 · 8:06 am

A Couple More Cigar Bundles of Miami Cigars, a Padron 1926 and a Unicorn

In the later part of the week I smoked a few more cigars from Cigar Bundles of Miami, both from the Tampa Blend line. The first was the Candela. I approach all candela cigars with some curiosity, they can go one of several ways, they can be quite good, mild to the point of flavorless, or grassy to the point of being nasty. I really enjoyed this one. It was flavorful, not overly grassy, but refreshing, which is a characteristic I  look for in a good candela cigar, and medium bodied. It was a pleasure to smoke, something I’d keep on hand for a change of pace, or a nice cigar for a hot day, which it was the day I smoked this one. I think these are around $20 for a fiver, so they are quite reasonable. I think this is a great value, and definitely worthwhile if your curious about candelas, or like them and want some good ones to add to your rotation. This one was a 6″ x 50 toro. I think the folks at CBM should add some details to their website.

 

I followed the candela the next night with the Tampa Behike Habano, the 6″ x 56 pigtailed fat toro. I actually liked this one better than it’s Maduro sibling, oddly enough. I think it was mostly because it had a little more open draw, but the flavor was very nice and well balanced. Like the other two, the burn was even and it was an easy cigar to smoke.  This cigar had a nice spice and some sweetness. I’s love to know what the blend is on these cigars, perhaps most people buying cigars from this company don’t really care about the details like I do. I suspect it’s a Nicaraguan based blend, but that’s purely conjecture on my part. I’m not even sure where these are rolled. I’d love to get more details, perhaps Alex will read this and weigh in in the comments.

 

Yesterday was my 57th birthday, so I smoked a couple decent cigars. First, I smoked a cigar that has been around for a long time but I’ve never gotten around to smoking one. I’ve long been a fan of the Padron 1964 series, but I’ve never smoked a Padron 1926 Serie! Weird, right? This cigar has been around since 2002, and I’m just getting around to trying one. I smoked the No. 35 Maduro, a little 4″ x 48 box pressed beauty. This cigar was included in the CigarProp Smoke Inn Battle of The Bands pack, which I received on Friday. Knowing Kevin, and after smoking this cigar, I’m a little surprised he included this, it seems a little outside his usual wheelhouse. This little cigar is a powerhouse! It’s peppery, it’s got a kick, and it’s nothing at all like the 1964. It was a bit of a surprise! I’m not saying I didn’t love it, it was a spectacular little smoke, and it smoked for about an hour, which was perfect, as I lit it up after my daughter and her family left after spending the day with me. I’ve heard some people prefer the Natural in the 1926, I’m curious now. I’m a cheap bastard, I’d have trouble dropping $12 or so on a little cigar like this. Of course, amortized over the cost of the Battle of the Bands pack, it felt OK, and I think Kevin’s sampler is a great value. It certainly was a treat and I enjoyed the crap out of that little cigar. I think it would kick Kevin’s ass though. By the way, I linked to Padron’s website, and on the off chance anyone from Padron reads this, it might be a good idea to redesign your site and get away from the Flash site, I have a feeling that after December it might be a problem for you. If you try to go there on iOS you probably won’t have any luck.

 

Finally, I wrapped up my circum-solar anniversary with a Muestra de Saka Unicorn. I received this Unicorn from the Sakas a year or so ago, it was from the original batch, a very generous gift. This is a Broadleaf wrapped cigar with all of the tobaccos hand sorted by Saka himself, and have a retail price of $100. Steve wanted to see how goofy he could get making a stupidly expensive cigar. These are made by one pair of rollers at the Joya de Nicaragua factory, and they only make a little over 1000 a year. When they have cigar that don’t meet the ridiculously high standards, they cut them down and smoke them in the office and call them “horn of a dead unicorn”, true story. I figured combining my birthday with my recent new job, it was a good enough time to slay the Unicorn. Of course, a cigar like this inherently comes with some expectations. First, the cigar is beautiful, it appears to be without flaw, the shape is very unique, as Steve went out and bought a lathe to make the prototype for the molds for these. It’s a 6¼” x 60 diadamas, but because of the proportions, or maybe because the head is so pointy and you end up cutting quite a bit off, it doesn’t seem like it’s that long. That being said, it smoked for over two hours, I lit it before the hockey game started and finished it (with about a half an inch or about $6.25 left) at the end of the second period. I think if I ever had the good fortune of having another one of these I’d remove it from it’s coffin, because I’d be really interested in seeing if the cedary flavor I got was a result of having been in that coffin for as long as it was, as I suspect. It was delicious, sweet broadleaf cocoa, with that woodiness. I enjoyed the crap out of it, and am glad for the opportunity to have smoked such a masterpiece. Honestly, if I were spending my money, I’d buy a whole bunch of Umbagogs and be much happier, but, as I mentioned above, and Steve Saka will tell you, I’m a cheap bastard. I wouldn’t trade the experience of sitting on my porch on a summer evening, watching hockey (except that the Flyers would win in the best case scenario), and smoking a special cigar like a Unicorn for anything. It capped of a very nice day.

 

I almost forgot to mention that today officially marks the 11th anniversary of CigarCraig.com. Not as long as a few, but longer than most! That’s all I have for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

Share

5 Comments

Filed under Review

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,