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October 5, 2025 · 9:56 am

A Few Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust Cigars That Were New To Me

I know, I’m behind on some of the new releases, it’s been a weird year. Last month Harrisburg Beer and Cigars/BL Luxuries released a shop exclusive by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, the Kahn Alam. I didn’t want to spring for a box, and probably would have been too late anyway. I’m a cheap bastid, Saka knows this. There was a sampler available from BL Luxuries which included one of the Kahn Alam, and it also had a Sobremesa Solita Red, and a Red Meat Lovers Fritanga, which were on my list of new cigars to try. I think there was also a Triqui Traca and a Saka Kahn in there, neither of which are cigars I’ll turn my nose up at. It was still a little more money than I like to spend, but I talked myself into it. I’ve been itching to try the Sobremesa Solita Red since hearing about it. Like the Brûlée Blue, its a 6¼” x 46 gran corona The blend is a dark rosado grade one Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés Negro binder, and fillers consisting of four varietals of Nicaraguan tobacco and a filler from Pennsylvania. This is a beautiful cigar, in a great connoisseur size. Everyone knows I’m a toro fan, but I’m definitely a sucker for a Lonsdale or Cervantes size. I maintain that length is more of a factor in smoking time than girth, but I suppose the length vs. girth argument will never be settled, it comes down to personal preference. Anyway, this is a fantastic cigar, if it was more affordable it would be a regular for me. It started off with a bang, a sharp spice. I swear I got some cinnamon, like the Atomic Fireball candy, in the middle third. Super good cigar, amongst Saka’s best for sure. I’ll happily shell out for one of these every once in a while.

Red Meat Lovers Fritanga was another cigar in the sampler that was released this year and was on my menu of cigars I wanted to try. I have adored every Read Meat Lovers cigar I’ve tried, the blend appeals to me. This one is a 6″ x 52, which is the same size as the Ribeye in the line, which is why the Fritanga has the gold and red band. This is meant to be spicier and “beefier” than the standard blend. This cigar has a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, a Mexican San Andrés negro binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. I noted that it was loaded with sweet, dark coffee flavors, which would be great after a nice fried steak. Apparently there’s a Nicaraguan restaurant in Philadelphia, I’ll make a point of checking that out one day. This is another great cigar in the RML line.

The whole reason I bought the sampler was to get a chance to smoke this cigar, the Kahn Alam. These are Steve’s words from a Facebook Post:

Khan ‘Alam

खान ‘आलम

Vitola – 6×48 Parejo w/ Moña pigtail

Wrapper: CT Broadleaf – Dark & Gritty

Binder: San Andres Negro

Fillers: 3 Different Nicaraguan Visos + 1 Dominican Republic C98 Hybrid Ligero + 1 US Connecticut River Valley Broadleaf Ligero

My Tasting Notes: Muddy, rich, earthy and powerful – love it!

The cigar is called Khan ‘Alam because he was the friend, confidant, and falconer for Mughal Emperor Jahangir who in 1617 passed the very first smoking ban in India, however ‘Alam was such a lover of tobacco he refused to abide his Emperor and risked being beheaded, but rather than kill his friend, he “banished” ‘Alam to be the Ambassador to Persia… so ‘Alam is the first anti-ban revolutionary!

Nick wanted a brand to celebrate his Indian heritage and who better than honoring India’s first tobacco patriot?

Plus he kept falcons… and falcons are cool.

This is an exclusive for Harrisburg Beer and Cigar/BL Luxuries. I have known Nick and James there for quite a while, great guys an they have a great store there (the cigar part is great, I don’t know about the beer any more, but they have stacks of the stuff!). I didn’t get any hint of falcon in the blend. This cigar has some oomph though. It’s really earthy. I wouldn’t call it sophisticated, it’s down and dirty, and I loved it. I can’t say anything about this cigar that Saka didn’t say, it’s yummy. I have no regrets, this sampler was an excellent investment. I got to smoke three stellar cigars this week, and I have a couple good ones resting for later. The sampler is still in stock on BLL‘s website.

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

CigarCraig

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Filed under Review

Tagged as BL Luxuries, cigar, cigars, Fritanga, Harrisburg Beer & Cigar, Kahn Alam, Red, Red Meat Lovers, RML, Sobremesa, Solita

December 22, 2024 · 10:50 am

Catastrophic Failure, a Couple of Adventuras and a Patina Cigar

I was passing through the Harrisburg area last week and made a quick stop at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar where I grabbed a couple “new to me” cigars for this week. The primary motivator was the Catastrophic Failure from Powstanie Cigars. I thought this was a terrible name, but I was intrigued by the thought of a Sumatra wrapped cigar made by Nica Sueńo. I also was interested because Kaplowitz gave it an A-, high praise. These are very limited, 500 ten count bundles, and I got the last two that they had. This is a 5½” x 52 box-pressed robusto,with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Mexico and Pennsylvania double binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Lots to look forward to here. I lit this up on Wednesday, when I participate in what I call a support group, several cigar guys on a video call smoking and shooting the shit. This is a really nice cigar, well behaved, which isn’t surprising considering the factory. It has what I think of as a hard candy, but it’s a spiced hard candy, and I haven’t been able to find it in the wild. I really enjoyed it, the PA and San Andrés binder seemed to add quite a bit to the blend, beefed it up, I guess. Definitely not a Catastrophic Failure, but I think the Szczepankiewicz boys like irony. Including their name in a post almost uses up my allotted number of letters.

James happened to be there at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar (because he works there) and gave me a couple of exclusive cigars to HB&C/BL Luxuries which I found interesting. These are variations on the King’s Gold and Queen’s Pearls in ADVentura‘s The Royal Return line (they should offer seconds as the Jester’s Junk, just a thought…), in a barber pole format. Here’s what confuses me: These cigar look identical except for the band. They’ve added a Ecuador Connecticut wrapper to the Broadleaf wrapper on the King’s Gold and vice versa to the Queen’s Pearls. I thought James said the two were the same blend with opposite wrapper but I think I better understand, unless the only difference between the two is the wrapper, in which case I’m still confused. I don’t know a lot about ADVentura, typically the Henderson Ventura blends don’t particularly appeal to me. I warned James about this. These are sold in ten count boxes containing five of each. I smoked these on consecutive evenings, starting with the Queen’s Pearls. This has both Ecuador Connecticut and Broadleaf wrappers, an Ecuador binder and Dominican, Ecuador and Nicaraguan fillers. I got a distinct cinnamon bun flavor on the cold draw, which was weird. This didn’t continue when it was lit. It had some citrus tang and woody/leathery flavors throughout. Maybe a little creaminess. While not my preference, it was a very good cigar.

The Royal Return King’s Gold Barber Pole is also a 6″ x 54 toro with a Broadleaf and Ecuador Connecticut striped wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from DR, USA and Nicaragua. I should like this one more, right? I remember smoking the “normal” King’s Gold and was neither repulsed nor impressed, it was just a decent cigar. Like an idiot, I forgot to look for that Cinnabon flavor on the cold draw, I just dug with in. I think this is a little more cocoa/coffee forward than the Pearls, with the same wood/leather undercurrent, of which I’m not a fan. Great burn and draw, enjoyable flavor, these are very nice. I imagine smoking these two at the same time they would be hard to tell apart, at least for me. I could definitely tell they were closely related. I appreciated being allowed to smoke these, thanks to Nick and James at Harrisburg Beer and Cigar/BL Luxuries.

I spied a freshpack of Patina Robustos on the rack and picked one up because I like Patina cigars, and Mo the owner, and I don’t see them around much. James brought out a Patina LE 2024 robusto that has recently come in. I think this is one of the reasons my bill was so high, I didn’t ask questions, I just bought. This is a 5″ x 54 Robusto with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, San Andrés binder, and fillers from the U.S. and Nicaragua. It’s made at NACSA, which is where the Broadleaf Dunbarton cigars and several other brands, are made. NACSA is an older factory, owned by the Oliva tobacco company and perhaps Lew Rothman still has a stake. For many years this factory pumped out tons of JR Cigars bundles. It’s become a major player in premium cigars largely due to Saka going in to make Mi Querida and teaching them how to make excellent cigars. I wouldn’t normally spent close to $20 on a robusto, or any cigar for that matter, but this was an excellent cigar, right up my alley. Rich, meaty, espresso/cocoa, al the things I love in a cigar. To be honest, if I smoked this blind I might have guessed it was one of Saka’s broadleaf blends. I’m sure Mo will be pleased that I say that. It’s a great cigar, my favorite of the week.

That’s all for today, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and happy holidays to everyone. Until the next time (when I should have a holiday giveaway, I guess!),

CigarCraig