Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Cigars Muestra de Saka #NLMTHA in Review
WRAPPER: undisclosed
BINDER: undisclosed
FILLER: undisclosed
FORMAT: Lancero (738)
ORIGIN: Joya de Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Full
NOTES:
Citrus | Spice | Oak
You got a tart cherry and a wedge of (at times chemical-laced) lemon out of the gate they're both aggressively pushed ahead by a raw hardwood. Behind that, there's some semi-sweet chocolate just waiting there, getting elbowed in line by a black peppercorn and red pepper flake gambit. It's all a tick helter-skelter but not terribly-so. Digging out trenches for nuance-placement requires a sharp shovel in this format. Moving into the 2/3, it's calmer and a half-bit of lemon meringue softer. Still herky-jerky but lesser. I feel like I'm trying to parallel park a supercar.
The sour notes are quite refreshingly crisp. Like cleaning out your eyeballs with rubbing alcohol. lol j/k. OK. Blackstrap molasses. Anise. brown sugar. A soaring raw hardwood smoothes into lively oak that dances like no one is watching. "Hey oak, I'm right here. Watching." A new cask vibe. Lots of red/purple fruits that are not-quite-ripe yet. The retro-hale singes nose hairs but sweetens the abraded palate. Almost to the half-way mark, cola floods in, making this whole thing nigh effervescent. Jittery too. Is 'anger' a proper tasting note? Is anxiety? ... and if you gaze into the cigar, the cigar gazes also into you.
The draw is excellent for any vitola and coats the smoke-hole with shrapnel from the top-note 'splosion. I need to stop taking the shape into account. "She's got a pretty face. For a heavy girl." STOP IT. Grapefruit in the 3/3 pushes out everything but spice and a vague lingering of chocolatey back-end. Burns on an even if not perfect line, coming nowhere close to needing re-touching. Nice smoke out-put but leaves in its wake a surprisingly timid room-note off wispy aroma. The thing is rolled tight, stays tight, and doesn't budge an iota. This just in: Draw stiffens in the final act.
I don't often supply recommendations as part of reviews, but if you're holding onto one of these--hold on to it a bit longer. Some more age might just lengthen its many short glimpses at brilliance. Hopefully by offering more balance and some kindlier weight. As it stands, it's great for taking out on the freeway, but I'm certain to kill a person pulling out of this damned parking spot.
TASTE: B-
DRAW: B+
BURN: B+
BUILD: A-
FINAL GRADE: B
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
@kaplowitzmedia
Instagram | Twitter
TASTE: B-
DRAW: B+
BURN: B+
BUILD: A-
FINAL GRADE: B
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
@kaplowitzmedia
Instagram | Twitter
::: very :::