Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Muestra de Saka Chubby Unicorn in Review

lo-fi & lovely

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Muestra de Saka Chubby Unicorn in Review

WRAPPER: ???
BINDER: ???
FILLER: ???

[This blend is quite akin to the Muestra de Saka Unicorn, presented in a different format]

FORMAT: ~560 Perfecto
ORIGIN: Fabrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua
INTENSITY: Medium-full

NOTES:

Star anise | Nutshells/wood | Semi-sweet chocolate

Let's start with the umami-drenched dark fertilized soil earthiness that envelopes the profile. All cushy and chewy and like whoa. It acts a bit like a boa constrictor applying a caring hug. Thankfully a structure is in place, and in place via the most engaging part of this entire parcel... a calmly complex slowly evolving look-see at nuts and woods. Shells and trees, too not just flesh and lumber. Hickory, charred booze barrel, black walnut, toasted almond. Pecan pie. "Nutty chocolate cream cup," comes to mind. Dessert served simultaneously with a beefy meal. Hefty.

Balanced well, is all that, by a  mature molasses sweetness which pushes forward a more obvious semi-sweet chocolate (on account of its strong vanilla influence). Spices do business too, in the form of Five Spice powder (Star Anise, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, fennel seeds). OK, maybe that's the most interesting part. Hard to say. Grains are on the back end, a rye mash bill of the stuff. So ::: very ::: much happening. Oh, look--someone is pulling a double-shot of espresso. Crema. Dang. But with all the happenings, there is no cacophony. I'm a baby constrictor and my mom is holding me tight? Oh, chicory. I legit get a Dr. Pepper vibe at mid-point. 

Flavors schmear a bit in the 3/3 when smoky malted things happen via leathery progressions. Getting to said final-third occurs on a mainly-even burn, a single lagging needs lightly re-touched. Twice. Then twice again. The draw is friggin' perfect. The ash seems to never want to fall. Seams stay tight on the oily shaft. Razor-thin char-line. Burns quite slow, evenly-paced. Big billowy smoke out-put smells like everything listed if you look particularly for an item. As with on the cheeks and tongue--it lingers long and remains beautifully delineated (almost) throughout. 

TASTE: A-
DRAW: A
BURN: B+
BUILD: A-

FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

@kaplowitzmedia
Twitter | Instagram

::: very :::