Wrapper: Habano
Binder: Undisclosed
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 6.25 x 50 Toro
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $18.50
BACKGROUND:
Steve Saka used an exclusive Nicaraguan (Jalapa Valley) tripa seed called Habanesis. It was first used after the harvest of 2021. These cigars were originally called DTT-EX-127 and saw life at The Great Smoke in 2023. A small amount were released this year. Numbers aren’t available.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Who doesn’t love a mystery cigar? In the right blender’s hands, it can be a lot of fun. There has been a spate of manufacturers counting on the loyalty of its fans to push through blends with totally undisclosed leaf origins. The occasional is amusing, but repetitiveness is frustrating for the consumer who has choices.
A stout offering with heft and length. Something most men never hear in a woman’s declaration of love. An oily stick with a Thomas Guide map of countless veins. The cinnamon bun on the cap is always a delight. A roller must be all in to accomplish such a task. The footer band shows the covert No. 127.
The wrapper’s aromas are chock full of dark chocolate, black coffee, baking spices, ripe sugar cane, barnyard, cheesecake, and sweet lemon.
The manhole cover sees its demise using the trusty PerfecPunch. Despite the cigar possessing an exotically structural cap, the punch works beautifully with surgical precision. I used the middle punch (11mm or 7/16’).
The cold draw is in tandem with its aromas of dark chocolate fudge, black walnuts, espresso, baking spices, sassafras, sweet lemongrass, and mild black pepper.
Dunbarton is an assuredly reliable brand. Steve Saka is the mad man behind the product. He is a crazed scientist and deliverer of botanical outcomes.
After lighting this thing with my ridiculously priced, but reliable, S.T. Dupont Big D Line 2 wide mouth lighter, there are dominant flavors of dark chocolate, sweet lumber, cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts, spicy black pepper, brown sugar, salted caramel, and extreme earthiness. An immediate intensity one rarely finds in most cigars; but expects from Saka.
There is a beefy note at the half inch mark. The blend shape shifts to mostly savory.
Our man in Zambia, Charlie Schink, was in Iceland last week. He found a good home for a Katman sticker in the Icelandic Penis Museum. I am finally surrounded by dicks. I don’t mean the cigar industry.
The blend reminds me of a very sophisticated Bronzeback. Or maybe a brother to the SakaKhan. Or a touch of the Red Meat Lover. Yet, the cheese stands alone. It remains unique. A cigar sommelier would treat you to a more explicit description. But I find that those guys place my eyelids at half mast because I don’t understand them. Sometimes, you just need a regular Joe to explain things.
This is my third stab with No. 127. There is no surprise ending. Steadfast and unswerving. That’s how I like my purveyors.
Earthy, windy, and leathery. A hearty blend. Deeply interesting…like an unopened letter from the IRS.
The sassafras opens up in inch two. A blend with a diaphragm of cinnamon, brown sugar, ginger, anise, and salted caramel. The 127 is developing into a story in which I wish I had bought more than a fiver.
Schink climbed the Matterhorn in Switzerland 50 years ago. His partner in ascending the monster invited him to visit for the anniversary. The photo is awesome in its grandeur. Me? I look at my background and I see the Fonz eating a brat in downtown Milwaukee.
There is nothing more fun than taping football games on Sunday and watching them on Monday with the advantage of fast forward. Commercials have ruined the experience.
The cigar is packed like a schnitzel at a nuclear plant. The slow roll is a carousel with a broken brake.
Russ Giglio who works for the UFL, and is a replay official for college football, sent me a recipe for Italian long hots. Naturally, getting those peppers in Milwaukee is impossible. I used Hungarian peppers instead. Add good Parmesan, smoked meat, and some grapes to the mix and you have one addicting food stuff.
Being the steamboat captain at Knott’s Berry Farm didn’t mean you didn’t have to learn how to run the other rides as well. Less boring than steering a boat that traversed the water at 1.5mph was running the carousel. Learning how to get on and off the beast while it spun at dizzying speeds was no easy feat. An expert was instructing me with a cavalier approach and tripped and shattered his shoulder. So it was with amusement that I watched parents bolt the rotating merry go round rather than pay the 25¢ to stand next to their tiny child. First responders were on speed dial.
Strength began at a touch more potent than medium. During the conclusion of inch two, it gains aptitude and is an effective medium/full with a serious touch of nicotine. And yet 45 minutes in, I’ve not taken a sip of water. I rectify it as a squalid approach to lessen the toxicity of nicotine. I’ve always been a wuss as I’ve never smoked a cigarette.
While the flavors do not morph into a more subversive list of ancillaries, they certainly intensify. The complexity digs its heels in. The depth widens. This is becoming a great cigar.
The first half was a dream. Even though this is my first cigar of the day, on an empty stomach, I find no serious distress to my being. Smooth is the adjective in play.
I smoked my first two sticks early and I feel loads of guilt. They were pretty good because everything Saka blends tastes good no matter when in the process of home detention they dwell. But now, damn, I wish I had bought more. But at $92.50 for a five pack, it takes a bite out of my cigar budget. I bet you are like me. You go through phases. I go in and out of my Saka periods more often than most. Padron comes in second. I love SBC’s Avowed line that always has a home in my humidor. And tying at fourth are Warped and Viaje.
I do some deep knee bends to fend off the full strength. Inch four is forcing me to stare at my keyboard while I type. My skills as a typist are depleted. Back in the day, it was rare for a boy to know how to type. But my mother guilted me into taking a class in high school in preparation for college. I was surrounded by 30 girls whose hopes were to be high paying secretaries. I was made fun of by friends. But I had the last laugh as I made good dough typing papers for my college brethren. I thought smoking a J while doing this would be a breeze. That changed when my budget for white out exceeded my income.
I’m in the last third. Such a special cigar. Bold, brash, sophisticated, and rich with elegant finesse.
It’s not uncommon that the last third of many cigars see their lives extinguished in the last couple of inches due to harshness brought on by poor blending or tar created by constantly huffing and puffing. If a cigar can shine during this test period, you have a winner. The No. 127 bristles with character and patina. It glows like a 30-year-old Twinkie.
Keep an eye out for special releases from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. They show up and disappear quickly. I’ve never been disappointed with a quick Dunbarton choice that has me finishing the transaction with the compassionate option of showing the purchase as a lifesaving medical device on my bank statement.
Sponsor Small Batch Cigar has a wonderful choice of Dunbarton cigars. Take 10% off with promo code KATMAN.
RATING: 97
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cant find this stick on SBC.
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This is a Smoke Inn exclusive and not a regular release.
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