I feel like I’ve laid a trap for myself. Two Saka blends at one time. Is my palate sophisticated enough to distinguish each from the other? Is it going to be a cavalcade of chocolate, espresso, nuts, and spice? I’m willing to give it a try and if I look stupid, well…chalk it up to another day in the life.
The mission, should I agree to accept it, is if I can keep the drivel down to a reasonable number of words so that this thing doesn’t read like Cigar Reviews by the Unabomber.
Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Famous 80th | Cigar Reviews by the Katman
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano 2000 Sun Grown
Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa C98
Filler: Nicaraguan Estelï, Ometepe, Jalapa, Condega
Size: 5 x 52 Robusto Box Pressed
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $13.25
Date Released: 2020
Quantity Released: 500 boxes of 10
Factory: Nicaragua American Cigars S.A. (Estelí, Nicaragua)
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
Why are smokers attracted to a box pressed cigar? Is its geometry more facile than a tubular being? Are corners alluring while no discernible beginning or end is frustrating? My wife has several master’s degrees in psychology, so I ask her. She responds with, “Fuck if I know.” Ok, we’ve settled that. I didn’t make that up. Charlotte started college at 15. I think that her current battle with dementia is the price for asking countless people, “So…how do YOU feel about that?”
Sure as shit, aromas from the wrapper are mild dark chocolate, baking spices, cedar, and vanilla.
I pierce the toast with my trusty PerfecPunch. Knowing that I’m reviewing two cigars in a row, the PP does deep knee bends in preparation. The cold draw is honeydew melon, dark chocolate, cinnamon, espresso, and caramel. If the 10th Jubilee is similar, I’m going to kill myself.
I’ve only had these cigars for a month. But since they have 6 years of box aging, I feel confident I will get a message in a bottle from the blender.
Everything I’ve said nice about S.T. Dupont lighters, I take back. My Biggy Flat Torch took a dump on me only 18 months after I bought it. The trigger doesn’t activate so all I hear is the unpleasant sound of escaping butane that takes me back to my childhood and neighbor Hans Gruber asking me to visit the inside of his outdoor oven. I mailed it to their authorized repair shop in bum fuck egypt. They will analyze it and let me know how much. As Dupont guarantees their stuff for two years, it’d better be free. I betcha a dollar that they claim I abused it. I swear that if they pull that crap, I’m going back into my back catalog of posts and scream don’t buy S.T. Dupont! I will provide a follow up…stay tuned.
I’m back. A nice smooth start with notes of dark chocolate, espresso, baking spices, black pepper, and cedar. Oh no…
On the upside, the mouth feel is as smooth as my tushy on a diet of black cherries and Honduran methamphetamines.
The chocolate is cacao mousse-like rather than Bullwinkle mousse-like.
The first third isn’t like the majority of Saka blends. I decipher a lot of his blends with a Connie Broadleaf big start. A smack in the puss rather than a blithe spirit, savoy brown experience. The Sobremesa blend is too light for me. The 80th seems to bridge the gap. This Nic puro leaf stats scream strength, but its beginning is medium and balanced. I wonder if they had to pull Saka kicking and screaming into the Famous-sphere.
The second third ups the strength to a scoche past medium. Depth is increased by a millipede. Earthy richness encounters a close third to a secondary kind.
Transitionally, it’s not about a differential flavor profile. The blend hovers at chocolate, spices, espresso, caramel, and earth. So, it’s up to the complexity to bring it home.
The first half was very pleasant. I scroll up to remind myself of the price tag. OK, $13 is the going price for decent. In 2020, they were $1.50. 3% national inflation increase, my ass.
I leave the safety of my hokum to check out other reviews. In essence, they report a carousel of chocolate, espresso, spices, and nuts. So, not a flavor bomb. I’m not sure if the half a dozen years of box aging has improved the profile. Maybe smoother, but not expansive. In fact, this blend has become a perfect morning cigar as the biggest change may be the lessening of the strength. One review stated that complexity grows over the duration. Seems right.
The deal I found from the auspices of Cigar Deal Hunters by Smoking Hub got me a ten-count box for $87.
Character defines a good cigar. I wish that this blend stood tall, but it is simply an honest blend that may have aged out.
And then, half an inch from the last third, the blend sings. Complexity doubles down. I’m asked to recite the words to the 7th stanza of the national anthem. That’s where the gold is. Sometimes I just type words to type words.
The cigar becomes everything I hoped. But it loses points for not blasting the start like the shoe bomber. Transitions are minimal. The depth of the blend doesn’t really kick in until 2” to go.
Strength hits medium/full in the last third.
RATING: 90
Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust 10th Jubilee | Cigar Reviews by the Katman
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra Seed
Binder: Mexican
Filler: Nicaraguan Condega, Estelí, Jalapa, Ometepe
Length: 5.625 x 48 Corona Gorda
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $19.75
Date Released: February 2026
Quantity Released: Regular Production
Factory: Nicaragua American Cigars S.A.
I’ve taken a 90-minute break to cleanse my palate with a light lunch of chopped liver (w/extra schmaltz), chicken wing kishka, blackened gefilte fish, and corn bread stuffed cheesecake. I’m ready.
The guts appear very similar to the 80th. But instead of a Habano wrapper, we have a hearty Ecuadorian Sumatra. Instead of a Nic binder, we have a Mexican. I hope to divest my brain of chocolate, espresso, baking spices, and cedar.
The wrapper emits aromas of subtle earthiness, mild barnyard, and spicy cumin.
I dare to double shill for Dr. Rod. His PerfecPunch grabs the tiny pigtail by its narglies and creates a sink hole in the cap.
The cold draw tastes like corn bread stuffed cheesecake, kishka, gefilte fish, and chopped liver. Huh…?
I cleanse my oral cavities with Clorox Cleanup and try again: sweet lemonade, cinnamon, chocolate covered coffee beans, black pepper, and a slight metallic taste. I remove the algae covered penny I found in the Reflecting Pool from my mouth, and it goes away.
The blend starts with a big bang of creamy café au lait, dried fruit, earthiness, and licorice. This blend differs from the 80th with a flourish of sweetness that I prefer. It’s all about our moods. My favorite contours are the one where the blend has a 50/50 of sweet v. savory. This is at the top of the menu for the 10th at this early juncture.
Right away, I prefer this blend to the 80th. Maybe this is why the Famous is still around 6 years after its limited release. Word of mouth.
The spiciness is divided equally by black pepper, red pepper, and cinnamon. Thirds are how I make a poop. First, I pray. Second, I sit properly on the toilet. Third, I remove my ankle length boxers. Fourth, I squeeze Sammy’s head like a fidget. Fifth, I wait for God to give me the go ahead. Sixth, I launch into the Iranian National Anthem. And finally, seventh…I remember to wipe…er, wait…how many was that?
The 10th is muy delicioso. The flavor speculum is as vertical and varied as the son of a motherless goat the 80th is not.
The coffee is extraordinary. Chocolate simmers beneath like a beaver’s stare. The candied lemon peel accents the cedar woodiness beautifully. The damp mons venus is as earthy as Jayne Mansfield before the crash. And the dried frootsie tootsie is as sweet as your first kiss.
I decide it’s time to finally light the cigar.
Scratch that.
Next time you check into Motel 6, keep asking for a different room until you’re finally back in the parking lot.
The second third renders mintyness on top of the chocolate. I kiss Sammy. He puts on that beaver stare that tells me I’m not his favorite. But he lights a candy cigarette that signals he is spent.
The first time I went horseback riding I was 15. In order to impress the girls, I loudly proclaimed I wanted a spirited horse. The gunslingers smiled through their tobacco-stained teeth. 4 minutes in, my horse galloped towards a low branch and all my girlish screaming did not deter the devil nag. I was bendy and able to miss having the tree decapitate me. I switched to pot belly pig racing after that. And to show my manliness, I refused to brush my teeth after the ritual gelding.
I like the 10th. My kind of cigar, pardner.
Strength is ballsier…something you never say in front of an un-gonaded pig.
I’m going to miss this.
Creamy earth. Chocolate malt. Espresso beans over rocky mountain oysters. Mint leaf garnish. Sweet dates. Cinnamon toothpicks. And black pepper.
Transitions move in disguise like the invisible swordman. A constant truncheon in hand that delivers flavorful leaves into submission.
Do you ever wonder why your wife prefers to sleep in her cell instead of your bed?
Maybe you won’t miss this.
I stare with beaver intensity at the clock. It is time for my meds.
Nice smoke output.
Into the second half, I taste salty peanut shells. This is one of my favorite flavors that rarely occurs in the wild. No idea how the brain integrates the comparison from aged tobacco leaves and something that George Washington Carver dreamed up in his lab. Thank goodness he did or we might be enjoying Reese’s Mustard Cups.
The 10th is an excellent cigar. You always have choices no matter what the demonic voices in your head tell you. I choose the Jubilee over the Famous.
Sponsor Cigar Page doesn’t have them. But sometimes they do. Makes no sense. Keep checking hourly for the next 12 days. Until then, non-sponsor Smoke Inn has them. If you like swag crap, then buy them from the Summer of Saka sales page . But your promo codes won’t work.
If you prize your hard-earned dough over swag crap, use this Smoke Inn link instead and try promo code SUMMER75 to bring price down to $11.54 each.
RATING: 95
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